Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!

The visitor fell silent for a few seconds.

"Playing games," he said, "or scrolling through short videos. Letting my brain be occupied by other things."

"Does it work?"

"A little bit. But after a while, it starts again."

Nan Zhubin leaned forward slightly.

"Besides thoughts related to sex, are there other recurring thoughts or behaviors in your life? For example, repeatedly checking if the door is locked, washing your hands repeatedly, feeling uncomfortable if things aren’t done in a certain order?"

The visitor thought for a moment, shook his head: "No. Just this. Just only... that side of things."

"Okay," Nan Zhubin said, "I’ll ask another question—how old were you when these thoughts began?"

"Fifteen or sixteen," the visitor said, "High school was when it started. I thought it was just adolescence, didn’t pay much attention. Later in college, it was still the same, I began to feel I had a problem."

"Yes, I think... this is problematic. In short, because of this, I feel like I spend most of my day thinking about this stuff, and I’m embarrassed to interact with girls because when I’m with them... these thoughts are all over my head."

The visitor suddenly lifted his head to look at Nan Zhubin, seemingly very determined: "Teacher, I want to solve this problem."

Nan Zhubin’s gaze swept over the visitor’s face, but he didn’t nod.

...

With a "click," the door of the consultation room opened.

Mo Kai impatiently went through the process, asking the visitor to consider renewing the package in the lounge, then dashed back to Nan Zhubin’s side like a whirlwind: "Senior, what’s the situation with this visitor?"

Clearly eager to start the review.

In the Psychological Consultation industry, depression, anxiety, and so on are most common, but they also come with risks.

However, the problem registered by this visitor was rare, albeit low-risk.

Moreover, it was quite amusing.

Nan Zhubin glanced at Mo Kai: "This visitor doesn’t need long-term consultation, so don’t lead them too much later on."

"Ah?" Mo Kai blinked.

Seeing this, Nan Zhubin quietly shared the situation in the consulting room with Mo Kai. The consultants and assistant consultants around were used to such cases and maintained a distance, observing confidentiality principles.

After listening to Nan Zhubin’s account, Mo Kai was still a bit puzzled.

"Senior... so, what exactly is the issue with this visitor?"

This wasn’t merely an account; he wanted an analysis.

Nan Zhubin’s eyes shifted across Mo Kai’s face, tapping his mouth corner before quickly lowering it.

The confidential part ended, and the teaching began.

Nan Zhubin casually returned his voice to the usual speaking volume: "Let me ask you—how do you define ’Star Addiction’?"

Mo Kai didn’t notice anything amiss: "This... how to define?"

"In Psychological Consultation and psychiatry, there’s no specific term ’Star Addiction.’ If we have to say, it’s ’Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder.’"

Nan Zhubin said expressionlessly: "Simply put, it’s recurring intense sexual impulses accompanied by frequent, uncontrollable star behaviors."

"In other words, ’Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder’—what you recognize as ’Star Addiction’—is essentially ’behavioral control failure.’ Individual patients not only have Star Fantasy but also excessive, unstoppable real sexual behavior corresponding to it..."

Squeak—

It seemed there was the sound of furniture moving in the office.

Nan Zhubin continued: "...such as frequently changing star partners, excessive masturbation, prolonged viewing of pornographic content affecting normal life, or frequenting star services venues—even knowing it’ll have negative consequences but still not stopping."

"In layman’s terms," Nan Zhubin summarized, "it’s ’overdoing it.’"

"And if a person only thinks a lot but does nothing in reality, then it doesn’t fit the core feature of ’behavioral control failure.’"

Nan Zhubin lowered his voice: "So our visitor doesn’t fit this feature. His issue doesn’t lie in the star behavior itself but in his attitude towards these thoughts."

Mo Kai listened carefully, thought for a while, then said: "Senior, is it possible it’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?"

If it’s not Star Addiction, then Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is also a rare situation.

So far, Mo Kai hadn’t encountered a visitor with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, thus also quite curious.

Nan Zhubin shook his head.

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder’s core is ’wanting to stop but cannot, and feeling uncomfortable if not done.’ The typical features are recurring, intrusive thoughts causing anxiety or distress, and the compulsive actions or rituals individuals are forced to perform to alleviate this anxiety."

Nan Zhubin listed: "For example, repeated hand washing, repeated checking, repeated counting, mentally repeating certain words or phrases."

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder patients not only have recurring thoughts but will certainly have some specific, ritualistic behavior to combat these thoughts. If a person only has recurring thoughts but doesn’t have corresponding, deliberately executed ritualistic behavior, it doesn’t meet Obsessive Compulsive Disorder’s diagnostic criteria.

"I specifically asked the visitor," Nan Zhubin lowered his voice again, "besides star-related thoughts, if there are other recurring thoughts or behaviors."

Mo Kai duly noted on his notebook.

Squeak—

More sounds of moving furniture in the office, accompanied by the sound of books flipping, keyboards tapping, and loud water drinking.

Mo Kai pondered for a moment, suddenly having an idea: "Then those recurring fantasies, don’t they count as Obsessive Thoughts?"

Nan Zhubin glanced at him, his mouth slightly moved.

"No," Nan Zhubin said.

"Obsessive Thoughts, though many simplify it to ’recurring annoying thoughts,’ in clinical diagnosis, it has strict standards. It needs to meet several conditions."

"First, recurring and persistently present; second, intrusive—in other words, unsolicited, unwelcome."

"And the third point, the most crucial: these thoughts must cause significant anxiety or distress, and individuals typically try to suppress, neutralize them, or offset them with other thoughts or actions. Moreover, these painful efforts involve consuming substantial time and energy, significantly disrupting normal life."

Nan Zhubin recalled in a lowered voice: "According to the visitor’s account, he barely fits the first and second points, as for the third point—"

Nan Zhubin shrugged: "Not very fitting."

"His Star Fantasy, although uncomfortable, hasn’t reached a clinically significant level of distress. He doesn’t lose sleep, lose appetite, unable to work because of these thoughts."

In clinical terms, the distress caused by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ranks top three among all psychological issues and mental illnesses.

"So," Nan Zhubin concluded, "It’s not a so-called Star Addiction, nor is it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, nor does it fall within the realm of Obsessive Thoughts. So that means—"

Mo Kai blinked, suddenly had an epiphany to conclude Nan Zhubin’s statement: "Star Repression?"

Just bottled up.

Mo Kai sighed inwardly.

He had been secretly anticipating for so long, thinking it would be a rare case.

Nan Zhubin nodded: "You could say that."

Crack—

The front desk appeared in the office area, with an iced Americano in her hand.

But her movements were stiff, incredulously looking at Mo Kai.

What were the two of them discussing...

Or rather, what was Mo Kai consulting Teacher Nan about?!

It was also at this moment that Mo Kai, sensing something, raised his head and looked around the office area.

Isn’t it... a bit too quiet here?