CHAPTER 515: CHAPTER 506: HISTRIONIC PERSONALITY

However, even as a "lecture teacher," one should be lenient with "students" appropriately.

As a psychological consultation practitioner, some principle-related issues still need to be clarified.

This issue is aimed at the viewpoint shared by the round-faced male student earlier: "In the past, no one had psychological issues; now people have many psychological issues, and it’s all pretended."

Nan Zhubin thought about his wording slightly in his heart, planning to use this answer as the final segment to conclude today’s lecture.

He looked at the round-faced male student, who was switching between touching his pants seam, propping the table, and crossing his arms, and used a tone as gentle as possible to express his serious viewpoint while providing a graceful exit for the student:

"It might be because you are still in school, so you haven’t interacted with many people; even if you have, the conversations may not have been very deep. As such, you may have misjudged the specialized issue of ’psychological problems.’

Nan Zhubin said, "I can’t say how prevalent ’psychological problems’ are, but individuals with psychological issues indeed have a significant presence in society, and these issues impact both individuals and the lives of those around them."

"As for your claim that ’people in the past didn’t have psychological problems’ — although we can’t travel back in time to conduct surveys, we can still find quite a few traces through written records. It’s just that at the time, these psychological issues weren’t understood, analyzed, named, or emphasized."

If judged by the "socialization" standard, reviewing history, one can find a plethora of psychological issues and even mental illnesses.

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are pointed out here.

But this topic should be touched upon just enough. It could extend into a series of popular science lectures, but today’s topic for Nan Zhubin’s lecture isn’t this.

After saying this passage,

the round-faced male student seemed to see the ladder Nan Zhubin had offered, realizing that this Q&A process had come to an end.

He forced a laugh twice, seemingly trying to regain some self-respect before leaving: "Ah... Hmm. Maybe it really is as you said, Teacher. I don’t have any problems, and the circle around me is pretty clean, so my view isn’t very comprehensive..."

With that, he wanted to sit down.

But a teacher with a dark face stood up nearby.

This teacher was pulled in as today’s temporary host, and he waved his hand: "As university students, before researching topics, we need to research ourselves first to have a thorough understanding of ourselves."

The round-faced male student’s action immediately froze, neither continuing up nor sitting down.

After finishing, the host didn’t look this way again: "Thank you to this student for the question, and thanks to Teacher Nan for his brilliant answer; also, thanks to the court staff who took the time out of their busy schedules to come to our school, conducting science education on personal and property safety for our classmates—"

Saying this, the teacher started clapping, to which the students enthusiastically responded.

For a while, the classroom was filled with applause.

Judge Chen and his group faintly felt that today’s feedback was the best in the entire lecture series.

In the corner of the classroom, a tightly wrapped man exhaled deeply into the cold wind from the air conditioner. He glanced at where the round-faced male student was sitting, then at Nan Zhubin, not knowing what he was thinking.

...

Sitting on the minibus on the way back, Nan Zhubin could feel that today’s atmosphere was a little different from usual.

The expressions in the carriage were a bit contradictory.

Some people looked relieved, seemingly glad that this long lecture series had finally come to an end;

Some faces showed regret, perhaps because this rare idle time was over, and they had to dive back into the intense rhythm of court work, with expressions full of yearning;

A few shot strange looks at him, the reason for which wasn’t clear.

Xia Tian sat in the adjacent seat next to Nan Zhubin, staring at the unchanged phone screen for a long time.

After a while, she puffed her cheeks in frustration and complained: "That last student today, really, I don’t know what he was thinking!"

Nan Zhubin chuckled and shook his head, instead comforting the young woman: "It’s alright. He was actually a blessing in disguise for me."

This opened the conversation, and Xia Tian immediately set her phone aside, curiously blinking her bright eyes and asked: "Teacher Nan, do you think that student has any issues?"

Right now, this isn’t a serious academic discussion, just chatting.

Nan Zhubin thought for a moment, saying: "With lectures, many times the last people to ask questions aren’t really to resolve doubts. Some want to use it as a way to network, some want to showcase themselves on this rare platform — I can only say this student’s intentions were too strong and not well disguised."

"As for any issues, I’m not deeply acquainted with him. Just from what he displayed today..." Nan Zhubin thought for a bit, "there’s a bit of a ’histrionic personality’ flavor."

...

In psychology, there isn’t a professional term like ’histrionic personality’; it’s a colloquial expression simplified for the internet era.

The closest professional term is ’histrionic personality disorder,’ which falls under the realm of abnormal psychology.

Characteristics of patients with histrionic personality disorder include "exaggerated emotional expression" and "excessively seeking attention from others," with symptoms beginning no later than early adulthood across various contexts.

According to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, the main features are:

1. Feeling uncomfortable when not the center of attention;

2. Engaging in inappropriate provocative behavior in interactions (so sometimes the opposite sex might not be interested in you, they just like to behave this way);

3. Rapidly shifting and shallow emotions;

4. Habitually using physical appearance to draw attention to oneself;

5. Overexaggerated speech style but lacking details;

6. Highly suggestible;

7. Self-dramatization, theatricality, or exaggerated emotional expression in daily life;

8. Believing relationships are more intimate than they actually are.

...

Only a few people actually meet all the criteria to a pathological degree.

But occasionally, there are those who fit several of them, though not enough to meet full diagnostic criteria.

From this perspective, while ’histrionic personality’ as a simplified descriptive term is not professional, it can effectively summarize a person in everyday conversation.

Even Nan Zhubin doesn’t mind using it during chats.

Applying strict professional standards word-for-word in everyday conversation without breaching professional boundaries would be too pedantic.

Work is work, and life is life after all.

That round-faced male student, for instance, certainly has the taste of a ’histrionic personality.’

Xia Tian showed a contemplative expression: "Teacher Nan, why do you think someone would become like that?"

Nan Zhubin thought for a moment: "Maybe due to inferiority, wanting to prove oneself? Or lacking friends usually, accumulating too much of a desire to express? Some theories even suggest it might be related to gender. But..."

Here he paused, shrugged indifferently, "It’s not important."

He’s not a client of mine, so why delve so deep.

Xia Tian nodded.

Then, the atmosphere became slightly stiff.

Then Xia Tian sighed: "Teacher Nan, today’s the last of the lectures, huh..."