Why do you feel depressed after getting into a good university? Empty-heartedness, are college students doing well?

Author: Kevin Xu, Associate Professor of Peking University, PhD in Clinical Psychology

A survey in 2016 showed that among Peking University’s first-year students, including undergraduates and postgraduates, 30.4% hated studying or believed that studying was meaningless, and 40.4% believed that life was meaningless. The most extreme of these students gave up on themselves.

"I don't know what the meaning of life is" and "I feel empty and confused inside". Kevin Xu calls these thoughts "hollow heart disease". Although there is controversy in the academic community about "hollow heart disease", some scholars believe that "hollow heart disease" does not exist and is a disease created by Kevin Xu, it is undeniable that "hollow heart disease" has rationality in psychology.

Why do people feel depressed after getting into a good university? How does the hollow-heartedness described by Xu Kaiwen bother contemporary college students? Let’s learn more about it from a psychological perspective today!

What is "hollow disease"?

The term "empty-heart disease" vividly expresses its basic characteristics, namely, inner emptiness and low mood. Kevin Xu also calls it "psychological disorder caused by value defects." So what are the characteristics of empty-heart disease?

Symptoms may be consistent with depression: From the symptom point of view, it may be consistent with the diagnosis of depression, such as low mood, loss of interest, lack of pleasure, etc., but it is worth noting that if patients with hollow disease go to the hospital for treatment in the psychiatric or psychological department, almost all drugs and traditional psychotherapy methods suitable for the treatment of depression are ineffective.

Strong sense of loneliness and meaninglessness: This loneliness comes from the individual's feeling that he or she has no real connection with the people in this world, which usually manifests as not knowing why to live and what the value of life is.

Problems have accumulated over a long period of time: Usually, these clients have had such problems for more than one or two days, and may have attempted suicide before.

Traditional psychotherapy is not effective: Without clear early trauma, and not caused by setbacks or trauma faced by individuals, it is difficult to treat with traditional psychotherapy. Xu Kaiwen said that as a psychiatrist, any patient with depression can recover quickly in a short period of time if treated with electroconvulsive therapy, but electroconvulsive therapy is useless for "empty heart disease".

In recent years, more and more college students have been troubled by "empty heart disease". They walk silently at the intersection of happiness and confusion, searching alone in the fog.

Why do people suffer from “hollow disease”?

"Empty heart disease" can be said to be a disease of the times under the rapid development of society. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory mentions that the pursuit of self-worth is the highest level and also the spiritual pursuit. In the case of material abundance, spiritual needs are more urgent. But nowadays, people are still in a period of excessive pursuit of material things, and the spiritual level is barren.

The core problem of college students' "empty syndrome" lies in their lack of psychological needs, self-worth and self-identity.

First of all, people's basic psychological needs are the core of the self-determination theory proposed by American psychologists Deci and Ryan in the 1970s. It refers to three innate needs of individuals: autonomy, competence and relationship needs.

Autonomy, that is, when we have a high degree of control over our own behavior, we will be more willing to invest in it, and our sense of self-authenticity will also be improved. For example, if we like to learn dancing and our parents support us, we will be more fully involved in it.

Competence means that an individual feels that his or her ability can support him or her to complete a task or challenge and achieve the desired results. It can bring a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and is an important source of self-motivation.

Relationships mean that people hope to feel loved and be loved in their interactions with others, to belong to a larger group, and to contribute to the goals of this group.

For college students, the lack of any of these psychological needs will make them feel unable to feel their own existence and become confused.

Secondly, the lack of self-worth of college students comes from the educational background. Although the country is improving and promoting quality education, under the pressure of further study, students still cannot completely get rid of the idea of ​​focusing on scores. Students are victims of the idea that the purpose of life is just to pursue money and status, and study and work are just means to pursue this goal. They seem to spend a lot of time living, studying and working hard to gain a sense of accomplishment. But when they find that they have all those things, their hearts are still empty, and they have a strong sense of meaninglessness.

Therefore, many students, after going through the fierce competition of the college entrance examination and entering their ideal university, begin to become confused and do not know what their own value and meaning are.

Finally, the "empty heart syndrome" of college students is also related to the lack of self-identity. This term comes from the famous "Eight-stage Theory of Personality Development" proposed by psychologist Erikson. It mentions that the development task of young people between the ages of 12 and 13 is to establish self-identity and prevent self-identity confusion, and to differentiate individual consciousness into an ideal self and a real self, and achieve unity.

Let’s take dancing as an example. If you really want to be a dancer, this is your ideal self. But your parents disagree and stop you from practicing dancing. They insist that you become a doctor. Under pressure from your parents, you have to do things you don’t want to do and become a person you don’t want to be. This is your real self.

When young people's ideal self and real self are not consistent, it is likely to cause confusion in self-identity, leading to a lack of ideals and goals, and a state of powerlessness in their expectations for the future.

3. Can “hollow heart disease” be cured?

At present, although "empty heart disease" is not sensitive to drug treatment or even traditional psychotherapy, there are still some ways to alleviate it.

Conduct self-reflection frequently. Reflect on yourself three times a day, and through careful review and analysis of your own growth experience, you can deeply understand your inner self and understand what your real needs are;

Conduct psychological assessments, or psychological tests. By using scientific and standard psychological assessment tools, you can deeply analyze and evaluate college students' personality, interests, values, skills, interpersonal relationships and other psychological characteristics. You can even discover a side of yourself that you haven't discovered yet through psychological assessments. The more popular MBTI test is one of them.

Seek help from psychological counseling. Xu Kaiwen once said that he has found a set of coping methods for "empty heart disease" over the years. Psychological counselors can help students discover their true selves, achieve self-affirmation, and get rid of their past dependence on external evaluations and utilitarian goals.

To prevent college students from suffering from "empty heart disease", universities should carry out effective career planning courses to help students have a clearer understanding and planning of their goals and ideals, and also reduce the feeling of confusion.

As mentioned above, "empty heart disease" is actually a disease of the times. Therefore, if we want to solve the problem fundamentally, psychological counseling alone is not enough. People should also change their concepts. Pay attention to the people around us, not just college students. Let us fill the hearts that are hollowed out by confusion and emptiness with love and a meaningful life.

References:

Chen Jianqiao. Understanding and resolving the psychological crisis of "empty heart disease" among college students[J]. Campus Psychology, 2021, 19(05): 447-449. DOI: 10.19521/j.cnki.1673-1662.2021.05.016.

Shang Yafei, Yin Mingchai. The lack and reconstruction of college students' spiritual pursuit from a psychological perspective: Reflections on the "empty heart disease" of college students[J]. Journal of Guangzhou Radio and Television University, 2019, 19(04): 48-52+109.

"Empty Heart Disease of the Times and Anxiety Economics" Xu Kaiwen's 2016 speech

November 12, 2022 https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv7315787/

[4] “Why do psychological counselors feel powerless in the face of ‘empty heart syndrome’” by Xu Kaiwen

November 12, 2022 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/N_BcfbSYWXZJutGCy2SHzw