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

Chapter 579 Psychological problems? Or are you just too full? Come work in the fields with me for a couple of days and all your problems will be fine!

Nan Zhuren was certain that the visitor genuinely couldn't recall the information at that moment, rather than it being a defensive act of feigning ignorance.

If it's a defensive tactic, the visitor will definitely experience even a fleeting moment of intense fear after their pupils lose focus and they enter a state of recollection.

Even if she is a superb actress and doesn't need to use gestures like hugging or looking around to hide her emotions, the emotions in her eyes cannot be faked.

But at this moment, the visitor only felt a calm bewilderment.

Nan Zhuren glanced at the wall clock; it was time to leave. He could only smile and conclude, "We can discuss this issue again during our next consultation."

……

Glug, glug, glug—

Nan Zhuren returned to his desk from the tea room and downed a glass of iced Americano in one gulp.

Looking back on his consultation with Li Lingling, he was probably a little too optimistic.

I originally thought that Li Lingling was able to live a regular life—at least superficially—because she had considerable mental strength to support her efforts.

Yes, pain-driven effort is also a form of power.

However, this kind of power is dangerous, and smoothly transitioning it into gentle support was originally part of Nan Zhuren Consulting's goal.

However, it now seems that Li Lingling's problem is more complicated.

Even with the information support from the hospital, they still encountered significant obstacles.

"Ah Kai." Nan Zhuren thought for a moment and called out to his assistant.

Mo Kai, who had already seen the visitors off, immediately looked up: "Senior brother?"

While thinking, Nan Zhuren said, "Let's communicate with this visitor and ask if the next consultation can be extended to two hours. We can try to intervene with hypnosis...etc."

Because there were other colleagues around, Nan Zhuren only referred to Li Lingling as a "visitor" and did not directly say her name.

Mo Kai was about to write down Nan Zhuren's instructions, but seeing that Nan Zhuren had interrupted him again, he stopped.

[Emotional readjustment]

Along with a slight feeling of fatigue, Nan Zhuren felt her mind clear up. The throbbing sensation she had experienced in the consultation room due to her brain working at high speed had completely disappeared.

A clear mind also made Nan Zhuren's thinking more comprehensive.

"No, forget it. Don't tell her yet. The counseling relationship isn't established enough. If we rush into using hypnosis, it'll probably be no different from the first time."

Mo Kai nodded. He followed up on Nan Zhuren's consultation very quickly and had already studied the verbatim transcript of Li Lingling's first consultation that Nan Zhuren had compiled.

Nan Zhuren even specifically pointed out the shortcomings of that consultation, so Mo Kai knew exactly what Nan Zhuren meant by that situation.

"Let's wait until we guide her through a few more self-explorations and solidify the therapeutic relationship before proceeding with hypnosis, otherwise the effectiveness of the hypnosis might be somewhat low..."

Nan Zhuren summarized, then looked at his consultation schedule for the day.

After Li Lingling, there was nothing left.

He couldn't help but look at Mo Kai: "Is the number of inquiries still the same lately?"

Mo Kai, upon hearing Nan Zhuren's words, also became troubled: "Yes, senior brother, it's almost Chinese New Year, and potential visitors are probably all at the company rushing to meet their performance targets."

Nan Zhuren nodded in agreement: "When I'm busy, I have fewer psychological problems."

This was originally meant as a joking remark.

But upon hearing this, Mo Kai's expression turned horrified: "Senior brother, how could you say something like that? This... is so unprofessional!"

Nan Zhuren blinked and immediately understood why Mo Kai reacted that way.

I guess it's because when I was studying psychology online, I saw something like, "Mental illness is caused by eating too much and being too idle. If you go to work in the fields with me for a couple of days, all your problems will be cured." That disgusted me.

Nan Zhuren suddenly became interested and began to consider Mo Kai's question: "How are psychological problems, mental illnesses, and mental disorders classified?"

Mo Kai blinked, recalling the qualifier in Nan Zhuren's words, and immediately understood what Nan Zhuren meant.

However, it was too late for Mo Kai to correct himself now that he had encountered the test. He could only stammer out a rough outline.

Although not as standard as exam answers, the meaning is roughly the same.

Nan Zhuren simply wanted to enjoy the flustered state of his junior brother who was trying so hard to study, and nodded in satisfaction.

He said, “You know what ‘psychological problems’ are, they’re general problems that aren’t driven by anything deep inside, like emotional issues or life planning. Some of these kinds of problems are just too busy to think about.”

To give a simple example: at a certain moment, some people may really want to find a partner; but once work or study tasks pile up at that time, they will not have this emotional trouble for several days, a week, or a month.

Nan Zhuren rattled off the details with great familiarity: "For example, the [Attention Sufficiency Theory] explains this—when a person is engaged in a task that requires concentration, a large amount of cognitive resources are occupied, resulting in no extra energy to repeatedly think about those thoughts that cause anxiety and depression, temporarily weakening or even stopping rumination."

"On a physiological level, moderate physical exercise can promote the brain to secrete endorphins, dopamine and norepinephrine to regulate mood, and can also reduce cortisol to reduce physiological stress."

"From a social functioning perspective, being busy can also provide a platform for social interaction, reduce loneliness, and provide social support."

Mo Kai was relieved that he had passed the previous surprise knowledge test, and now he nodded repeatedly as he listened. He felt that this senior student, who had just taken the master's entrance exam with great difficulty, was indeed extraordinary in terms of knowledge accumulation.

However, the method of improving one's inner state through busyness that Nan Zhuren is talking about generally only applies to the level of "psychological problems." Further psychological illnesses and mental illnesses involve deeper things, even physiological changes, and cannot be solved so simply.

Even at the level of psychological issues, very few can be "healed" by a busy work schedule.

“More likely, the problem will just be temporarily suppressed, and it will resurface after the work is finished,” Nan Zhuren said. “There might even be new problems like physical and mental exhaustion and avoidance coping mechanisms at that time.”

"After all, psychological discomfort is itself a warning from the body; it's the subconscious crying for help."

"Just wait, after the New Year, the number of inquiries will suddenly increase."

This is not only Nan Zhuren's personal deduction, but also the result of work experience accumulated over the years.

Mo Kai silently remembered what Nan Zhuren said, and even took out his notebook to write something down.

“Next time I encounter these kinds of comments online, I can use your words to argue with those people…” Nan Zhuren chuckled: “Then you will definitely fail. They probably won’t understand the academic stuff you’re talking about. Even if what I just told you is supported by academic papers, they won’t even glance at it, and even if they did, they wouldn’t understand it.”

Heading towards the break room, intending to pour myself another cup of coffee: "They'll probably say they had some problems before, or that someone around them had some problems, and then they got cured because they 'got busy'—and then use that to prove themselves, as if all the world's problems can be solved with one solution."

Generalizing from limited information is a characteristic of online arguments, and one that shouldn't be ignored.

……

There wasn't much work at the company, which allowed Nan Zhuren and the other consultants to take a short break.

But research groups within universities are different.

By the time they reach graduate school, normal holidays are basically irrelevant to them.

Graduate students have very few classes. But sometimes, they even hope that the school can schedule a few required classes to be interspersed throughout the week, so that they can be saved from their supervisors' wrath.

Of course, Bai Qinghua's research group wasn't that impressive; at least within the group, he was still a teacher, not a boss.

However, once students have joined the research group of a mentor of Bai Qinghua's caliber, they themselves will not allow themselves to enjoy the so-called campus life.

When Nan Zhuren has free time, whether it's learning data analysis or mastering the operation of experimental instruments, she can always find senior students in the research group to guide her.

This can also be seen as laying the foundation for my future scientific research career.

At this moment, the lucky senior brother who had previously prepared the exam papers for Nan Zhuren and was also responsible for proctoring Nan Zhuren's exam in the psychological counselor exam was sitting in front of the computer adjusting the equipment.

Nan Zhuren sat in the chair opposite him.

Nan Zhuren is not here today to be the examiner, but to be the examinee.

In other words, he was being studied.

"Junior brother, thank you so much for coming." After opening a program on the computer, Senior Brother Good Luck turned around and sincerely said to Nan Zhuren.

Nan Zhuren chuckled softly, "It's nothing, senior brother. After all, I've received a lot of help from you in the past."

Good Luck and Nan Zhuren were quite familiar with each other. Upon hearing Nan Zhuren's polite words, Good Luck couldn't help but start complaining: "Junior Brother, you have no idea how difficult it is to recruit test subjects these days. Especially for test subjects who need to cooperate in experiments, many people run away as soon as they see the complicated experimental procedures."

"Even if a few people come to cooperate, they might conduct experiments haphazardly, and the data they collect will be mostly invalid. I either have to discard the data that I worked so hard to obtain, or I'll have to increase the number of participants..."

"No matter what, it's a waste of the participant fees—by the way, speaking of participant fees, although the professor is generous with the money, there's no limit. For a small experiment, the approved funding is limited, I'm really careful with my budget..."

Once he started complaining, Brother Good Luck just couldn't stop.

In conclusion, he said, "I've already exhausted all the people in my research group and all the friends I know, but it still isn't enough. Luckily, you came along."

Nan Zhuren nodded.

This situation, where students come to be subjects in experiments and allow themselves to be studied, is still quite common among graduate students.

The whole process takes less than an hour, and you get a few dozen yuan afterward, which is equivalent to one or two days' worth of meals.

If the experimental procedure were more complex and the experimental time were longer, the money might be even more.

Lucky Senior Brother said, "I recently collaborated with the research group next door on a four-hour experiment and earned five hundred yuan straight away!"

Nan Zhuren nodded, then asked with some curiosity, "But senior brother, when senior students from my research group and I come to be test subjects, is the data we receive really valid?"

Generally speaking, psychology experiments avoid recruiting people from the same major; just as Nan Zhuren can now intentionally control the scores on psychological scales, the reactions of psychologists in psychological experiments are completely different from those of normal people.

This is similar to the "curse of knowledge." After learning something, it becomes very difficult to react in a way that someone who hasn't learned it can.

Good Luck Senior waved his hand: "It's okay, different studies have different requirements. My experiment is more physiological in nature. As long as you don't know my experimental procedure beforehand, your major won't interfere with the data."

As he spoke, Senior Brother Good Luck directed one of his junior sisters, who was acting as his assistant, to take out a net-like headgear and put it on Nan Zhuren.

The headgear had several wires attached to it. Good Luck explained, "This is an EEG device. I need to use this device to record your brainwaves in a while, which will roughly reflect your mental activity level and the like."

Brother Haoyun used Nan Zhuren for experiments, which also helped Nan Zhuren become familiar with how to use the experimental equipment.

The junior sister sat to one side, watching Nan Zhuren without moving. Upon hearing what her senior brother Haoyun said, she revealed an expression of "finally I can do this," and raised her hand to put the EEG headgear on Nan Zhuren's head.

Nan Zhuren felt his hair being ruffled as he watched his senior brother Haoyun plug the wires from his headgear into the main unit next to him: "Senior brother, will this allow you to read my brainwaves?"

The senior student shook his head: "We also need to apply a special gel to your scalp to reduce resistance—it will be a bit messy, but don't worry, there's a special clean room next door where you can wash your hair."

The experiment might be a bit messy, as Lucky Senior Brother had warned him beforehand. However, Nan Zhuren didn't nod to indicate that he understood, because his head was currently being manipulated by someone else.

Good Luck Junior Sister quickly instructed again, "Junior Sister, come and apply glue to Zhu Ren!"

Nan Zhuren blinked.

Why does it feel like there's something to complain about?

Then I saw my junior sister take out a plastic bucket and a syringe from the refrigerator, insert the syringe into the plastic bucket, and suck out some milky white viscous substance.

Then, the junior sister carefully inserted the syringe through the mesh of the EEG headgear and slowly pushed it in.

Nan Zhuren felt a chill on his scalp, which then grew colder and colder...

"Senior brother, it seems like it's flowing down to your neck," Nan Zhuren suddenly reminded him.

Senior Brother Good Luck quickly stopped Junior Sister: "Oh dear, why did you get so much glue on Zhu Ren's head? No need for that, you don't need so much glue! Wipe the excess glue off Zhu Ren's head first!"

The junior sister immediately became flustered.

"She's an undergraduate student, and this is her first time doing an experiment, so her technique isn't very good." Senior Brother Haoyun smiled apologetically at Nan Zhuren.

Then he turned his head, glanced at the computer screen, and suddenly exclaimed, "Hey junior brother, your breasts are so beautiful!"

Nan Zhuren's lips twitched.

(End of this chapter)