Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!
Chapter 290 - 288: Concomitant [Anxiety Disorder]

Chapter 290: Chapter 288: Concomitant [Anxiety Disorder]

When Li Mingchen said this, he showed the emotional peak during his conversation with Nan Zhubin.

[Pupils dilate, nostrils flare.]

[Quick nodding.]

[Staring into my eyes, gaze nearly frozen.]

Even the foot wrapped in plaster and bandages couldn’t help but start shaking.

This is the emotion——[fervor].

A strong fear of obesity and a fervent pursuit of thinness—this is another core symptom of [anorexia nervosa].

The first part hasn’t been seen yet, but the latter part is already evident beyond doubt.

Nan Zhubin even saw a hint of sickly flush on Li Mingchen’s face.

The young consultant paused in silence, then slowed down his tone, making his voice flat and gentle, like an invisible hand soothing the heart.

"This month when you said you lost weight rapidly, was it the month before this accident?"

"...Yes."

It’s unclear if it was due to the influence of Nan Zhubin’s voice, or because "accident" was mentioned again.

Li Mingchen’s emotions began to stabilize.

"Before this accident, how did you train, and what was your usual eating like?"

Li Mingchen pondered for a moment.

"The questions you are asking now, Teacher Yang has also asked me before." Perhaps having answered previously, Li Mingchen thought quickly.

"I am a basketball specialty student, playing forward." He replied, "Regular strength training, such as squats, box jumps, push-ups, bench presses, it depends on the coach’s arrangement for differentiated training."

"Regarding endurance, it’s the daily long run, incremental and decremental sprint training—this is my weak point, I’m too overweight, maybe good in confrontation on the basketball court, but when it comes to these physical fitness tests, it’s not good."

"So that’s why I have to diet."

Nan Zhubin nodded to show understanding.

"Roughly how much was the training volume?" he asked a bit more specifically.

"As for eating, how exactly were you eating?" He repeated the question.

Upon hearing these two questions.

Li Mingchen furrowed his brows, starting to think hard.

"I have good strength, so I followed the coach’s arrangements, practicing something different every day; if I think about it, I can’t figure it out specifically."

"Endurance training basically requires concentration for at least an hour every day. After concentrated training, I would add an extra hour or so on my own."

"For eating, I would calculate ’calories’ and set a ’caloric deficit’." Li Mingchen thought for a bit, "At our place, there’s a formula combining weight and height to calculate daily energy intake, and then I would reduce it by about 10% more based on that."

"Initially, I cut out sugar and controlled oil. Later, I completely removed staple foods, and the weight started dropping rapidly..."

Nan Zhubin nodded slightly.

Behind him, Chonghui was also recording continuously.

Excessive exercise, along with strict, even excessive calorie restriction—another major symptom of [anorexia nervosa] has now appeared quite naturally.

"Don’t you think this is detrimental to health?" Nan Zhubin asked.

"It’s necessary, everyone does it this way!" Li Mingchen said matter-of-factly.

"If you want to quickly improve performance, then you have to drop weight quickly. Only by doing this can you quickly reach the weight goal and then refocus on formal training."

Li Mingchen argued emphatically: "If it weren’t for this...accident, I would still want to lose about five more pounds!"

Not actively seeking help, nor thinking one is abnormal. Or simply and crudely categorized as [lack of insight]—another symptom.

...

Nan Zhubin blinked his eyes.

By now, [anorexia nervosa] is basically a certainty.

That is to say, the psychological evaluation by the short Teacher Yang, who was previously driven away, can be said to have no major issues.

However.

Though this is a psychological evaluation.

But due to the sensitivity of psychological consultation, there is still a question in Nan Zhubin’s heart that remains unanswered.

[Anorexia nervosa] can be confirmed.

But, the cause?

How did this condition specifically appear?

There are more than a few sports students, so why did he develop this condition?

Was it because he was too ambitious? Too eager to improve performance?

Nan Zhubin thought for a moment, then asked: "It sounds like your fat loss strategy seems very aggressive, like creating a ’caloric deficit’ on top of the formula calculation, with an extra reduction of 10% energy intake."

"Does it have to be like this, wouldn’t it work if you eased up a bit?"

His tone remained calm.

"Yes!"

But suddenly Li Mingchen reacted almost as if stimulated, raising his volume abruptly, and even the soothing effect from Nan Zhubin disappeared instantly.

"It must be like this!" Li Mingchen emphasized.

Nan Zhubin deliberately said: "Isn’t there a slightly milder approach, after all, from the results, it doesn’t seem to lead to a very good outcome if..."

Li Mingchen suddenly interrupted Nan Zhubin.

This was the first time during this conversation. Prior to this, the student had always appeared weak and fairly polite.

"It must be like this, teacher!" He emphasized once again.

Li Mingchen used strength to arch his upper body backward, clenching the sheets with his unharmed right hand, while his bandaged left hand trembled slightly.

He breathed heavily and forcefully, accompanied by frequent swallowing actions, and the masseter muscles in his cheeks protruded due to clenching his teeth.

But he could only emphasize "It must be like this," without articulating any substantial reasoning for why it was so "necessary" afterwards.

Nan Zhubin sighed deeply in his heart.

Seeing this reaction, Nan Zhubin already knew what he wanted to know.

It’s not a good thing.

One final question.

The student in front of him, is there a critical turning point for change?

There is.

Nan Zhubin recalled the recent conversation in a fraction of a blink.

"You just said, you started dieting about three months ago, but couldn’t control your diet before then; it was only in the recent month that you began to thoroughly diet."

Nan Zhubin [repeated] the key phrases of the other party: "What made you start dieting three months ago, and what made you suddenly...firm your resolve a month ago?"

Hearing that Nan Zhubin was no longer deliberately contradicting.

Or maybe because he needed to think.

Li Mingchen calmed down again.

After about ten breaths.

He said slowly: "Three months ago, my physical test results weren’t very good, so my coach gave me advice."

"But at that time, I wasn’t very obedient, so the coach kept reproving me."

"Until another physical test a month later..."

Nan Zhubin listened.

Nodding slowly, recording slowly.

...

"Click" a sound.

The bedroom door was opened.

Chang Ming, who was chatting casually with the student’s parents, lifted his head.

Chang Ming appeared unfazed, while the parents visibly showed anticipation.

Nan Zhubin smiled gently at the parents, then handed the evaluation report in his hand to Chang Ming.

Chang Ming, not avoiding the parents’ gaze, quickly scanned the evaluation report’s form, down to the conclusion at the bottom, and slowly read it aloud.

"[Anorexia nervosa]..."

It sounded similar to the previous report.

Upon hearing, the parent’s eyebrows rose, about to say something.

"And the concurrent... [anxiety disorder]?"

Chang Ming enunciated the last word before lifting his head to look at Nan Zhubin.

The young consultant nodded: "Director Chang, could we speak privately?"