Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?! Chapter 826: 684: Numbness (Part 2)

Chapter 826: Chapter 684: Numbness (Part 2)

[Regarding the body… neither approaching nor distancing. But that ballpoint pen…]

Seeing the visitor’s reactions, Nan Zhubin understood too: “It seems you’ve beco aware of this yourself.”

Usually, after revealing soone’s privacy and facade, an explanation should follow.

Sure enough, after being stunned, the visitor pursed his lips, indeed showing signs of wanting to speak.

But Nan Zhubin wished to skip the “debate” step.

He interrupted the visitor’s spell before it could be cast, saying: “When you first ca in, you told about the ‘sadness’ of your wife’s death and the ‘anxiety’ encountered at work.”

“These are truly unpleasant events for anyone…” Nan Zhubin expressed sympathy first, ceremonially, not [empathy].

“You also indeed let your tone reflect so fluctuations, and your facial expressions changed accordingly,” Nan Zhubin continued, “But as a psychological consultant, I’ve observed that, in this long string of words, your emotions… are almost unchanging.”

Nan Zhubin looked into the visitor’s eyes: “In other words — ‘wife’s death’ and ‘work difficulties’ elicit the sa feelings from you.”

The visitor shut his mouth.

He lowered his eyes and started twisting Mo Kai’s ballpoint pen again, his thumb and forefinger stained with large blotches of black ink, dirty and drenched.

…

Even though Nan Zhubin deliberately softened his tone when saying these words.

The words he uttered carried strong aggression, akin to insults.

Because the information within his words nearly counted as “accusation,” placing the visitor before him into a space defined by total social moral condemnation.

But Nan Zhubin’s purpose is not to condemn; it’s to establish a consultation relationship.

Therefore, he naturally won’t just say those aggressive things.

“I fully understand why Mr. Chen concealed his feelings when expressing them to — after all, in public cognition, what kind of person would feel similarly about ‘wife’s death’ and ‘work difficulties’?”

“The answer is generally not good.”

“But as I just said, I’m a psychological consultant. So I started trying to find the reasons behind your reactions.”

As he spoke, Nan Zhubin pointed to the OH Cards on the table.

These cards, just recently, were used to establish a baseline for the visitor, and the function of this baseline is not rely to assist Nan Zhubin in lie detection.

“Did you notice that when you chose cards just now, there was actually a pattern?”

The visitor was taken aback.

“When I asked you to speak ‘fake feelings,’ you picked more abstract cards, emotionally-provoking images. What you expressed to were the feelings a ‘normal person’ would have upon seeing these images — rather than your real feelings.”

“When I required you to speak ‘true feelings,’ you chose simple, monotonous pictures, and when expressing, you only objectively described the structures, avoiding the ‘feelings’ part.”

With Nan Zhubin’s explanation.

The visitor’s gaze gradually shifted to the OH Cards on the table.

The subtle bias in such choices he was entirely unaware of.

It’s only now, being pointed out by Nan Zhubin, that he realized.

“Normally, when people are asked to lie to these cards, they would express feelings opposite to their true ones. For example, feeling ‘warm,’ they would say ‘lonely’; feeling ‘comfortable,’ they would say ‘anxious’.”

Nan Zhubin sumd up: “But your ‘lie’ is different, you said what you ‘should’ feel without actually feeling anything.”

“Just like when you described your recent experiences. Your wife passed away, you thought you ‘should be sad’; with work impedints, you thought you ‘should be anxious’.”

“In other words, what you displayed is not genuinely emotive but rather rationally deduced— answers.”

Nan Zhubin looked at the visitor.

At Nan Zhubin’s final sentence, all micro expressions on the visitor’s face vanished.

He and Nan Zhubin silently stared at each other for two breaths, forced a smile: “Seems like it.”

This expression is also not a genuine emotional display.

…

“It looks like, Teacher, you’ve indeed discovered so issues in .”

The visitor nodded: “From the company perspective, does it affect work?”

Is this what’s truly concerning him?

Recognizing the issue with the visitor’s micro expressions allowed Nan Zhubin to confirm a characteristic about the visitor.

But this characteristic could lead to many answers.

If a case conceptualization is to be done, Nan Zhubin needs to hear more, and concurrently eliminate so distractions.

Fortunately, the visitor’s reaction indicated the preliminary establishnt of the consultation relationship, allowing topics to delve deeper.

Nan Zhubin shook his head at the visitor’s question: “I don’t have a conclusion yet. But as I said before, I will keep your specific circumstances confidential from the company. Without a conclusion, my feedback to the company will be conservative.”

“Sounds like you’re aware of your situation too, can you talk about it?”

The visitor nodded, seemingly reassured sowhat by Nan Zhubin’s response.

— “Seemingly.”

At Nan Zhubin’s request, this ti he lowered his head in thought for nearly a minute, then finally raised his head.

“You’re right, my wife is gone, I didn’t feel sad.”

The visitor spoke calmly, as if narrating soone else’s story: “Everyone thinks I should be sad, I tried to be sad myself, but— I feel nothing at all.”

His voice was devoid of fluctuation, like reading a pre-written text: “I know it’s irrational, she was my wife, we fought together for many years. But I can’t control how I feel.”

“Actually, my emotions have always been flat, indifferent towards everything. I thought it was a good thing, a talent, because it ans composure, allowing to face difficulties calmly—it indeed helped greatly.”

“But… after my wife passed, I’ve sensed sothing’s wrong. My ‘talent’… has changed.”

Saying this, the visitor’s gaze drifted for a mont, assuming a stance of recollection.

His face still showed no dramatic expressions.

“This past month, I feel like a puppet on strings, clocking in for work, overti, cooking for my daughter, telling stories, caring for both sides’ elderly, doing what needs to be done. But I feel it’s not doing these things, it’s soone who looks exactly like doing them, while I just watch from the side.”

“You an you just ‘watch from the side’?” Nan Zhubin grasped the key information from the visitor’s words.

“Yes.” The visitor nodded.

“This has occurred before.” The visitor nodded, “During forr project crunch tis, consecutive overti for days, the whole body tense, that feeling would occur, like watching myself execute project tasks.”

“How long did that feeling usually last? Would it disappear post-overti?” Nan Zhubin pursued further.

“Lasting a day or two probably, post-overti, with so rest it would vanish.” The visitor replied, “Back then, I thought I was rely too tired.”

Nan Zhubin nodded, silently dismissing a faulty assumption.

“But this ti it’s different, after my wife passed, that feeling never left. I’m aware it’s a problem, yet no matter how I try to adjust, it’s ineffective.”

This sentence should exhibit so urgency.

However, the visitor didn’t, his so-called “efforts to adjust” seed like a rational decision.