"How did you figure it out?" Chen Ting, a bit more composed, was the first to bring up her concern.
Because although you're good at pretending, you still don't resemble someone with depression.
Nan Zhubin thought silently.
For anything ending with "syndrome," including various mental health manuals like DSM-V (the fifth edition of the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual for Mental Disorders), diagnosis criteria are extremely cautious. They require visitors to meet a series of symptoms listed before diagnosing "depression."
But regardless of which edition or standard, there is usually a core element.
And that is the [depressed mood].
"The so-called [mood], you can understand it as a persistent, pervasive emotion that influences your perspective on everything around you," Nan Zhubin explained. "You won't be able to share in others' joys, feel pleasure from games, or perceive 'beauty' in things."
"In the brief moment we met, your emotions fluctuated several times, which was the first point that puzzled me."
"So afterward, I performed a projection test on you. You admired beautiful things, expressed joy—and it was genuine joy from the heart."
Listening to Nan Zhubin's series of analyses, Chen Ting's mouth slightly opened in surprise.
"None of my previous consultants ever did this with me."
Nan Zhubin shrugged, "That's why they all misdiagnosed you."
"Let me see how they diagnosed you... Oh, how did you guide them?"
Chen Ting, watching Nan Zhubin talk while flipping through her file, sighed, "Previously, to get proof of depression, I searched online for depression symptoms in advance, such as loss of appetite, lack of energy, insomnia, and then portrayed them during consultations..."
"Didn't they give you scale tests? A rigorous scale offers specific feedback scores for your situation."
"When I saw those forms with hundreds of questions, I claimed I had a headache and only completed the ones with a dozen questions. Those are easy to manipulate results..."
Nan Zhubin nodded understandingly, "Regardless, you managed to deceive several consultants with your act and even self-taught a lot of professional knowledge. Have you considered studying psychology in the future?"
Chen Ting pursed her lips, smiling rather awkwardly.
Even though Nan Zhubin agreed with her, the young lady remained cautious and embarrassed.
If measured by levels, her attitude towards Nan Zhubin probably went from a friendliness level of 30, "guarded," to 50, "neutral," but there is still some distance from 60, "familiar."
Although she sat back down, relaxed, her attitude towards Nan Zhubin was again engaging in another form of confrontation.
"Nan... Teacher, since you can tell that I don't have depression, can you also tell why I'm pretending to have depression?"
Believe it or not, I can.
But Nan Zhubin chose not to let the visitor control the topic, he said softly, "If possible, I'd still hope that you could tell me yourself."
Chen Ting retorted immediately, "Can't you do it?"
According to standard procedures, the consultant should explain to the visitor at this time, emphasizing how important it is for the visitor to voice their own problems. If the visitor continues to evade, change the topic, and find another consultation direction.
But it's not absolute; many seasoned consultants develop their own styles in later stages. According to Nan Zhubin's knowledge, a renowned senior consultant is proficient in [confrontation] and even [scolding] with visitors.
Often reducing visitors to tears, yet they claim they are reborn after crying.
Nan Zhubin glanced at the wall clock, estimating the time.
Let's push the consultation progress a bit more.
During the early consultation, Nan Zhubin keenly noticed a body expression in Chen Ting, similar to "nervousness" but with subtle differences.
This was a rather important signal.
This signal appeared and fluctuated in three situations: after seeing Nan Zhubin, after he spoke, when mentioning her mother, and when talking about school.
Beginner micro-expression observation could detect this signal, but it couldn't interpret the underlying meaning. Besides verifying the "fake depression" in Chen Ting through projection tests, another goal was to find the emotion corresponding to this physical signal.
Eventually, he found that Chen Ting showed the same emotion when facing two emotional cards: bear and spider.
The emotion corresponding to them was [fear]!
Connecting all these, a calculation formed in Nan Zhubin's mind as he started organizing the logic, linking the dots, seeing Chen Ting's face still bearing tension and caution, and began to formulate his words.
Now between Nan Zhubin and Chen Ting, a [confrontation] relationship has been established between the consultant and the visitor. In this situation, Nan Zhubin's self-driven discovery of the confrontation's purpose could easily push the consultation ahead by a large step.
But the method of exploration must be careful; he couldn't directly say it was information deduced from "micro-expression interpretation."
If so, the visitor might be inclined to hide themselves more in the future.
"I've dealt with a few visitors pretending to have mental illnesses in the past. Their reasons usually fall into two categories: one, to gain attention; two, to avoid certain things."
"While you have been accompanied by your mother in psychological consultations after 'falling ill,' you maintain a repulsive attitude toward consultations, which means you don't enjoy being cared for in this 'illness' state. Thus, I ruled out the first possibility, you're not seeking attention."
"Then it is avoidance."
Nan Zhubin observed as Chen Ting's expression changed: "You just finished college entrance exams and entered a prestigious university with a good major. But you chose 'depression,' a condition that causes everyone involved at the university to be on high alert."
"So something must have happened at the school, leading you to want to leave that environment."
"Maybe it's the dormitory relationship, maybe romantic relationships, or maybe you realized this wasn't what you wanted after entering higher education. Either way, you want to leave that environment."
Chen Ting's expression continued to break down.
Nan Zhubin carried on, "But you have a controlling mother. Perhaps you're disappointed in her, or maybe you're terrified of her; in any case, you haven't shared your difficulties with her. You could only use the 'method' you came up with to protect yourself. So after thinking it over, you chose 'depression' as your shield."
Through this series of "reasoning," Nan Zhubin used much "speculation" and "experience summaries," forming a rough outline.
Compared to "micro-expression analysis," "experience" is a more convincing reason that leads people to drop their defenses.
The more Chen Ting listened, the wider her eyes grew, and eventually, she seemed to forget her nervousness, gradually relaxing.
"You're very adept," Chen Ting murmured, as if finally admitting in resignation.
Nan Zhubin felt assured, as this reaction suggested that his rapport with Chen Ting might have reached a friendliness level of 60 or 70 even.
"So... what happens next? What do we do?" Chen Ting asked weakly.
"Next, I'll continue to explain my judgment, and then it's up to you to decide," Nan Zhubin replied.
Chen Ting was taken aback, "More judgments? More choices?"
Nan Zhubin nodded, recalling abnormalities found during the consultation, those things observable only with [Micro-expression Analysis·Basic].
"Although your depression is faked, it doesn't mean you have no issues at all."
"For instance, the matter significant enough for you to pretend to be 'depressed' is something we need to resolve. And also..."
Nan Zhubin thought about the [fear] emotion displayed in Chen Ting; those emotions weren't normal either.
"Next, I'll discuss my diagnostic judgments with you, then discuss our potential future consultations and how to explain to your guardians..."