Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 571 More Information

Nan Zhuren blinked, controlling himself to make a perfectly appropriate expression of curiosity.

He turned to Nurse Cui and said, "Oh?"

The petite nurse didn't talk much, and when she did, she always seemed hesitant. This often indicates a past good relationship that has ended due to some minor disagreement, and now she wants to save face for her friend when she speaks.

However, judging from the limited experience shared by the petite nurse, it is enough to analyze that Li Lingling's relationship with her colleagues followed a developmental pattern: "early on, selfless and open-hearted," "mid-term, rapid development and warming of feelings," and "an inexplicable and abrupt end."

This perfectly matches the characteristic of "unstable interpersonal relationships" in Nan Zhuren's diagnosis of "borderline personality disorder".

Borderline personality disorder is characterized by intense enthusiasm when making friends, but then suddenly losing interest at some unpredictable moment, becoming as indifferent as strangers; in more severe cases, it can even lead to enmity.

A one-sided falling out turned into enmity.

Therefore, the other party in this social interaction is usually left completely bewildered. From the beginning to the end, some people don't even realize what happened and don't know why their good friend suddenly changed.

It's like a scene from a soap opera where the screenwriter suddenly goes crazy and deliberately ruins the protagonist's character.

From this perspective, could those screenwriters have been writing characters based on the concept of borderline personality disorder?

Nan Zhuren silently memorized this information, then looked at the tall nurse in front of him.

This nurse, Cui Cui, had previously said she wasn't very familiar with Li Lingling. She remained silent while the petite nurse spoke.

But now that only she and Nan Zhuren were left, she spoke up.

In this situation, the other party will definitely have plenty to say.

Then Nurse Cui said, "When she first came in, we were all in the same work group, and then she... would always say some strange things that made people very embarrassed."

When you don't know how to respond to a conversation, or when faced with something that's not suitable to continue, repetition is often the best solution.

Because the other party will then provide further explanations regarding your repetition.

Nan Zhuren gave a strange look: "Strange and embarrassing words?"

“Yes.” Nurse Cui glanced at Nan Zhuren, smoothed her hair at her temples, and began to explain, “When we first came in, some of the women complained that the work was too difficult and the working hours were too tiring. At first, Li Lingling would comfort everyone.”

“They said things like, ‘Keep going, everyone. We are all the best angels in white,’ ‘We finally got into the hospital. If we can get through this period, the future will be bright,’ ‘We are the hope of the patients.’”

"The things he said were very positive, but also... very bureaucratic."

These are all positive and inspiring words of encouragement for those around them.

But as Nurse Cui repeated these things, although she was smiling, she couldn't help but show subtle smirks and disdain.

Nurse Cui laughed: "What she said sounded like middle school students encouraging each other, saying things that everyone understands. But it's not that people don't understand the principles, they just want to complain."

“But when no one else is speaking, she will often use the chat group as a confessional, saying things like ‘It’s too hard, I’m a useless nurse’ or ‘I don’t deserve to treat patients’, which are really depressing.”

Nurse Cui leaned forward slightly towards Nan Zhuren.

She lowered her voice, but the emotion in her words was even stronger.

"Moreover, she says these discouraging things much more often than others, and what she says is often more offensive."

Nurse Cui summarized: "Few were encouraged by her, but quite a few were annoyed by her discouraging words."

“At first, people would ask her a few questions out of concern, but she would just say ‘it’s nothing.’ As time went on, we just let her be, and no one paid any attention to her anymore.”

"It's not that no one has tried to persuade her; her superiors have also spoken to her. But every time she's rotated to a new department, she talks like this."

Nurse Cui Cui's lips curled slightly.

"In short... she's a rather complicated person." After rambling on, he tried to save face, as usual.

She glanced around nervously, seemingly worried that her conversation with Nan Zhuren might be overheard: "I haven't heard of her acting like that anymore. I guess she got bored seeing no one was paying attention to her. But every department in the hospital knows about her now."

After looking around and making sure no one else was there, Nurse Cui Cui's gaze returned to Nan Zhuren's face.

But she didn't find what she was looking for in Nan Zhuren's expression. His face, with its well-proportioned bones, sharp lines, and striking features, was completely expressionless.

Then, Nurse Cui gritted her teeth, as if she thought she had guessed something, and said, "Of course, although Li Lingling is rather pessimistic when she talks to us, she is very proactive when she works. Teacher Nan must admire her for that action of snatching the knife back then, right?"

Nan Zhuren was deep in thought.

At this moment, Nurse Cui brought him back to his senses. He blinked and replied, "Ah...yes. That is indeed a very difficult thing."

Seeing that she had caught Nan Zhuren's attention, Nurse Cui immediately added, "She is always very dedicated to her work... She often volunteers for night shifts or high-intensity shifts and doesn't get much rest. As a result, she has collapsed from exhaustion many times."

Nan Zhuren seemed to have found a key phrase: "many times?"

Nurse Cui nodded and said, "Yes, it's because they do heavy work, don't rest, and eat very little, so they get exhausted and collapse while working."

"It's just that this is unnecessary. It's not like it's some kind of disaster relief operation, it's just routine. The way she's doing it makes everyone feel awkward. The leaders have talked to her many times, but she hasn't changed."

As she spoke, Nurse Cui lowered her voice further: "Sometimes I hear the leaders speculate privately that Li Lingling might be doing this on purpose, just to appear diligent at work so that it will be easier for her to get promoted or receive awards at the end of the year..."

"Moreover, she is usually very kind to her patients. Many times, even in situations where it is explicitly forbidden to be too open and kind to patients, Li Lingling doesn't care. She often gets herself into a lot of trouble just to serve her patients."

"But I've heard that she often gets better for a short time before she becomes irritable again and starts arguing with the patients. The leaders are also very troubled by this."

Whether these words were spoken by the "leaders" remains to be investigated.

But Nurse Cui Cui clearly felt that Nan Zhuren's curiosity about Li Lingling stemmed from the latter's brave act of disarming the knife during the medical dispute.

So now, they are starting to deconstruct Li Lingling's behavior in a way that is completely opposite to Nan Zhuren's, both openly and covertly.

However, it was her narration that provided Nan Zhuren with more information that she needed.

Compared to the petite nurses, Nurse Cui Cui in front of me is a real treasure. She's like a gold mine; every stroke of the shovel yields a harvest.

No, even using "gold mine" as a metaphor is inappropriate—it should be called "oil well."

After a trial run, the other party was practically gushing things out of the ground.

In theory, given the current conversation, if you want to learn more and further stimulate the other person's interest in talking, simply agreeing with them is enough.

If the topic involves someone you dislike, agreeing with their point of view, or even joining in the criticism, can quickly turn you into good friends and keep the conversation going. But—

Nan Zhuren thought for a moment, then unconsciously leaned back slightly and said, "...Is that so?"

Nurse Cui's expression froze, and she gave a dry laugh.

The distance he had just shortened by leaning forward towards Nan Zhuren involuntarily slipped back two inches.

But the next moment, as if a competitive spirit had been ignited, she suddenly straightened her chest again, as if she were going to make one last attempt.

"Teacher Nan is very curious about Lingling. But I also heard..."

……

After a while, Nan Zhuren left the nurses' station and found a quiet place to think.

What Nurse Cui said at the end wasn't anything new; it mainly concerned Li Lingling's personal relationships.

The specific details were similar to the information Bai Qinghua had previously gathered from the hospital leadership: Li Lingling changed boyfriends frequently, and they were all older men in their thirties or even forties.

However, unlike the more restrained and vague way leaders spoke, Nurse Cui Cui, despite using the cover of "heard about" to reveal more details, even vivid ones.

From this perspective, she was anxious.

After all, when it was said that Li Lingling was "energetic one moment and depressed the next, and in the end full of negative energy," they used "she is very complicated" to save face; when it was said that Li Lingling "deliberately collapsed to show off" and "argued with patients," they used the leader's words to cover it up.

When this topic was mentioned, there was no concealment of malice.

However, these things meant nothing to Nan Zhuren.

After listening to the narration, he turned and left, while simultaneously analyzing each point in his mind.

The things the petite nurse mentioned at the beginning, related to Li Lingling, fit the characteristic of "unstable interpersonal relationships."

The first point that Nurse Cui mentioned—that Li Lingling sometimes calls herself a "white-clad angel" and "the hope of patients," and other times says she is "useless" and "unworthy of treating patients"—reveals an extremely unstable self-perception in Li Lingling.

Or rather, it's a case of [conflicted self-awareness].

Li Lingling lacks a solid and firm understanding of herself; she is unsure what her "role" truly is.

This will prevent Li Lingling from having sufficiently stable and skillful coping mechanisms when facing life's challenges.

An individual with a strong sense of self is like a Steel-type Pokémon in Pokémon, possessing not only strong resistance but also a wide range of attacks.

Individuals with wavering self-awareness are often Pokémon with mixed types; with freely arranged and combined types, anything is possible. With good luck, they might even be able to create a powerful combination like Normal + Ghost.

However, if you're unlucky and roll a Rock/Dark type, or even a Grass/Bug type, things are really bad. Not only is your coverage area incredibly narrow, but you're also frequently vulnerable to quadruple damage, making the game experience feel like being in prison.

Li Lingling's self-perception at this moment belongs to the latter category, and it is clear that this confused self-perception has brought her a very bad experience in life.

This is the first point.

The second point is about Li Lingling's "frequent exhaustion during routine periods when there are no major battles" and her "unconditional and heartfelt treatment of patients."

It's important to understand that the reason hospitals restrict doctors or nurses from providing assistance to patients outside of their profession is ultimately the same as the reason why "psychological counselors are not allowed to intervene in the lives of their clients."

—It's all about protecting oneself. Hospitals are for protecting doctors and nurses, and mental health centers are for protecting counselors.

"The Farmer and the Snake" is not a fable in modern society.

At first, Li Lingling's actions could be understood as a kind heart and strong conviction; however, she disregarded the hospital's advice and repeatedly refused to change her ways despite multiple talks with her superiors...

This fits the characteristic of having a tendency to self-harm in multiple areas.

From this perspective, Nurse Cui's idea that Li Lingling "deliberately collapsed to show off" wasn't entirely wrong. However, Li Lingling's "deliberate" purpose wasn't to put on a show for anyone, but simply to "collapse from exhaustion."

“Then my judgment of her was correct.” Nan Zhuren sighed. “When she tried to seize the knife during the medical dispute, she genuinely wanted to be injured; to the point that she still reminisces about the experience of being injured afterward…”

As for Li Lingling's change in attitude towards patients, it can be explained by either "emotional instability" or "instability in interpersonal relationships."

Dating many people is a characteristic of unstable intimate relationships.

According to the accounts of the petite nurse and Nurse Cui Cui, Li Lingling's early social interactions, including "helping everyone complete their work," "teaching others anything they didn't know," and "being completely open and honest with patients," can be interpreted as "over-giving."

The "over-giving" in borderline personality disorder is often driven by the fear of abandonment.

Of course, the feeling of being abandoned is a subjective one, and it is not entirely accurate to trace back from the visitor's objective behavior. If we want to be more certain, we need to get more perspectives from other nurses to enrich the details.

At the same time, although Nurse Cui Cui said a lot, her narrative also contained many subjective factors. The information already obtained also needs further verification.

Nan Zhuren looked at the nurses coming and going in the lobby, composed herself, and smiled again.

……

Another half hour passed.

Chonghui walked out of the room with a dazed feeling, like a visitor who has just come out of a consultation room and thinks "the world is different now."

However, compared to the visitor's heavy thoughts, Chonghui's face was more innocent at this moment.

"Huh? Junior brother?" Chonghui turned his head and found that Nan Zhuren was already waiting outside.

"Senior brother." Nan Zhuren stood up and was about to say something.

With a lazy expression, Chonghui raised his hand: "Wait, don't talk to me about business yet, let me enjoy the afterglow a little longer..."

Nan Zhuren blinked.

There was silence in the corridor for about five breaths.

Then Chonghui shuddered, as if he had shaken his thoughts back up.

He put on a serious expression: "Junior brother, have you finished your business?"

(End of this chapter)