Ming is a freshman in college this year. He enjoys taking a variety of courses outside of his undergraduate degree, while still being able to devote himself to his major. Two years ago, he suffered from severe depression and suicidal thoughts. His recovery relied not only on medication and psychological treatment but more importantly, he followed the advice to regain his curiosity.
Curiosity is an instinct we are born with, just like breathing and eating. When babies see something they have never seen before, they will want to touch it and feel happiness from that. Every day as curiosity is satisfied a little, the day becomes more interesting. But since junior high school, Ming’s curiosity has been eroded by a distorted ambition.
When Ming got first place in the first-grade exam, he saw the bliss his parents felt about it. From then on, even if his parents did not exert any pressure, Ming was very self-conscious in devoting all his energy to subjects closely related to his exam ranking. As for things that have nothing or little to do with the exam ranking, and things outside the scope of the exam, he prohibited himself from spending time on them. Even though Ming had a natural curiosity that everyone had, driving him to get in touch with various extracurricular activities, his willpower empowered his ambition to suppress his curiosity.
His parents were unaware of this distorted ambition and mistakenly thought that Ming was sensible and mature. Ming had ranked first in the exam every year since then, but “taking the first place” had become less and less able to give Ming a sense of success. On the contrary, his fear had become stronger and stronger. He feared the day he would lose first place, which would disappoint his parents and prevent him from entering the top universities. By the time he was in high school, he was suffering from severe mental stress, depression, insomnia, loss of motivation for anything, and even suicidal thoughts. During his medical leave, Ming boldly tried to get involved in things other than examination, but during this period, the words “waste of time” kept popping up in his head.
Fortunately, with the kind encouragement and company of his parents, he could finally relax and let himself read some extracurricular books, read some interesting information, and go to places where without the need to write study reports afterward. Step by step, Ming’s curiosity was resurrected. As a result, he went from being tired of living to life-loving, all because life became interesting for him.
Written by: Dr. William Chui
Originally posted on: HKEJ Health
Translated by: Cheuk Long Chan
