"The premise of post-traumatic stress disorder is that the patient has experienced some kind of trauma. The fact that
"Something he experienced in the past?"
"That's right. Past experiences left a deep psychological impact on him. Whenever he recalls those events, or encounters something similar, or sees something that reminds him of it, his body reacts. To alleviate the pain, he instinctively seeks out ways to comfort himself. Based on the current situation, that method is washing his hair." After a moment, Dr. Gao sent another text. "When Men Nan first enrolled, I asked him why he chose to major in psychology. The answer this child gave was that he wanted to cure someone. Thinking about it carefully, the person he was referring to was probably himself."
"So the root of the problem still lies in what Men Nan went through as a child. I think we need to be upfront with him — only by understanding the full cause and effect can we help him."
"If my speculation is correct, then we absolutely cannot question him. He's been desperately trying to avoid that event. Forcing him to recall it bit by bit now would risk overstimulating him — he could completely collapse."
"Then let's contact his family. A child is suffering this much and his parents don't even bother to care? That's completely unacceptable." Chen Ge wanted nothing more than to take a photo of Men Nan's current state and send it to his parents, so they could see for themselves.
"I already called and asked about this a while back. Men Nan has had this hair-washing quirk since he was little. His parents are used to it — they don't consider it anything serious."
"Did they say what caused this habit?"
"No. When Men Nan was very young, his parents took him to see a psychiatrist. The diagnosis at the time was obsessive-compulsive disorder. That was extremely rare for a child his age. Considering how young he was, they decided against medication — the doctor simply encouraged his parents to spend more time with him."
"Obviously his parents didn't listen to the doctor's advice." Chen Ge shot back without a moment's hesitation. If Men Nan's parents truly cared about him, their attitude wouldn't be so cold.
"Minor OCD doesn't interfere with daily life, so his parents never paid much attention. Also, after I pressed further, I learned that Men Nan's biological mother was murdered when he was five or six years old. His father later remarried, and Men Nan has a half-brother."
"His biological mother was murdered? That happened?" Chen Ge felt that a dead end he'd been staring at had suddenly opened up into a new passage.
"His biological parents had a terrible relationship. His father was away most of the time, and his mother raised the child alone. One day a burglar broke into their home, and what happened after that — Men Nan's current parents don't know the details. All they know is that the neighbors called the police the day after the incident."
"The day after?" Chen Ge's heart lurched. "Where was Men Nan when it happened?"
"I don't know where Men Nan was during the incident itself, but I do know that when the neighbors called the police, Men Nan was at the scene. He was the one who found his mother first."
Reading the text messages from Dr. Gao, Chen Ge felt a chill slowly creeping up his spine. "You're saying Men Nan and his mother stayed at the scene for an entire day and night? They weren't discovered until the next day?"
"That's one way to put it. Perhaps the killer spared Men Nan, or perhaps he happened to not be home at the time. Either way, Men Nan narrowly escaped. But witnessing something like that at such a young age would have an enormous psychological impact. I suspect his OCD and his current episodes are both connected to that murder when he was a child. The thing I can't figure out is why he keeps washing his hair — what connection does washing hair have to a murder?"
The puzzlement in Dr. Gao's messages mirrored exactly what Chen Ge wanted to know. He stood in front of the mirror, staring at his own reflection.
"Washing hair? Self-protective behavior?"
The scene of himself mimicking Men Nan's actions flashed through his mind. Chen Ge touched the back of his neck, and suddenly a thought struck him: "Water drops!"
He immediately texted Dr. Gao: "At the crime scene — where was Men Nan's mother's body found?"
"After the burglar accidentally killed Men Nan's mother, he tore down the moisture-proof panel on the bathroom ceiling and stuffed her body inside. If it weren't for the fact that the neighbor's child and Men Nan walked to school together every day and the two families were very close, the discovery wouldn't have been made so quickly."
"The moisture-proof panel on the bathroom ceiling?" Chen Ge looked up at the bathroom he was standing in. This apartment had very low ceilings — living inside it felt suffocating. "I think I understand why Men Nan has this compulsion to wash his hair."
He picked up his phone and texted Dr. Gao back: "What if something like this happened — the burglar broke in, and both the mother and son spotted him. The mother told Men Nan to hide and tried to secretly call the police, but the burglar caught her."
"That's possible, but what does that have to do with washing hair?"
"Men Nan watched his mother be killed and her body hidden. After the burglar left, he went looking for her. When he reached the bathroom, his mother's blood was dripping right onto the top of his head." As Chen Ge typed these words, he felt a pang of sorrow. "So even now, whenever any liquid drips onto Men Nan's head, or whenever he recalls that scene, he washes his hair over and over again, trying to scrub away those memories. Dr. Gao, what you said earlier was exactly right — this is absolutely not ordinary OCD!"
After sending this message, Chen Ge looked out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, Dr. Gao wore an expression of shock and was at the same moment looking back toward Chen Ge in the bathroom. The two exchanged a knowing glance.
"We've found the cause!" Dr. Gao immediately pocketed his phone and walked toward Chen Ge. "I'll take him out of here right now and begin appropriate trauma treatment."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple yet." Chen Ge looked at Men Nan, who stood rooted in place, and shook his head slightly. "In the dream Men Nan keeps repeating, washing his hair isn't what's truly terrifying — it's the man who keeps getting closer and closer. To help Men Nan, we need to find out everything about that man and drive him out of Men Nan's dream."
"Drive something out of a dream?" Dr. Gao's expression turned peculiar. He glanced at Chen Ge, then looked back at Men Nan's eerie posture, and felt very much the way he had the first time he'd stepped into a mental hospital. "You're not joking with me, are you?"
"I already have a rough hypothesis, and tonight it'll be verified!" Chen Ge connected every clue together in his mind, and he felt sixty percent confident. "There really are three 'people' in this room. Two of their identities can be determined — we just need to find the third one."