Chapter 659: Chapter 412: Absolutely Must Not Provoke Her
"What is it?"
Nakamura Keiko smiled again: "It’s love for you."
"What... does that mean?" Uesugi Sakura asked further.
"What people think and imagine consists of impressions acquired from the subconscious. Mental illness is called such because patients cannot suppress the emotions triggered by a certain event. For example, if you lightly touch their arm, they might feel towards you a hatred as deep as the sea of blood."
Nakamura Keiko paused for a long time before continuing,
"Mrs. Uesugi is roughly in such a situation. She probably made an error in judgment in handling emotions towards you, leading her to often do things that don’t match her personality."
Uesugi Sakura, who hadn’t studied psychology, listened somewhat half-understanding, "Then... is it a mental illness?"
"Based on the current situation, it’s not."
"What exactly is her condition now?"
Nakamura Keiko explained: "First, we must understand the concept of ’character’. The formation of character is related to genetic and social factors. People are different from each other at birth.
"For instance: some babies are lively and energetic after birth, crying loudly. Others are calm and quiet, with a mild voice, even never crying, mainly determined by genetic factors, as well as various conditions during the mother’s pregnancy.
"On this basis, under the influence of certain social environmental factors growing up, character gradually forms around these.
"There is a condition called character mutation, which refers to changes in character after experiencing significant external interference. Severe cases might turn into schizophrenia, which is what Mr. Uesugi refers to as a second personality.
"This is merely one of the triggers, but another example of character mutation is when a patient originally possesses two personalities both of which were previously dormant and were awakened because of some incident, and this does not fall under the category of mental illness.
"Mrs. Uesugi likely has two existing personalities because of some incident, one is dominant, the other is hidden."
"Not... a second personality?" Uesugi Sakura frowned, still unclear about the difference.
"No," Nakamura Keiko said, "I know what you’re worried about, but Mr. Uesugi needs to understand that a second personality belongs to dissociative psychological disorders. The thinking patterns between two personalities are completely different, and their memories also don’t coincide. Based on the series of situations described by you and your wife, your wife appears more as the same person.
"She possesses two personalities at different times simultaneously.
"A reminder, character and personality are two different things. One is a subclass, the other is a complete entity. Different characters are still the same person. Different personalities mean becoming a completely different individual.
"Of course, if you still feel uncomfortable understanding it this way, you can consider this feature of having two personalities as a kind of illness—the fact that your wife is ill, sometimes changing her character to become completely different.
"It’s similar to when a person suddenly becomes very irritable."
Uesugi Sakura nodded, understanding, and then asked, "Can it be cured?"
"It can, but it depends on the situation. Based on Mrs. Uesugi’s current condition, she is very stable. Mr. Uesugi, the main thing you should do is avoid provoking her."
"Should I... face different versions of her at the same time?"
"Just interact with her as usual, make sure not to have any mental burden. They are the same person, just with a frequently changing character. From childhood to now, her character surely has had slight changes too, but even having changed, she is still that person—Mr. Uesugi, think of it that way.
"There is a term called ’capriciousness’. This condition has no specific name but seems to be a situation like this."
"I will continue to follow up on your wife’s condition. Also, Mr. Uesugi, you mustn’t have too much psychological burden. Take her out for relaxation and chats occasionally."
...
Hanamaru Hanabi saw Uesugi Sakura coming out of the consultation room and got up from the resting bench to meet him.
"Sakura-kun..."
Seeing her cute little face, Uesugi Sakura didn’t know what to say to her. Now, it’s legitimate and reasonable to have two completely different wives... a ’capricious’ wife.
But these character shifts between ’joy’ and ’anger’ are somewhat odd.
For a moment, he truly didn’t know how to adapt.
"Does Hanabi know roughly what’s going on?"
"Hmm..."
"I understand, but Hanabi, why do you have two personalities?"
"I don’t know..."
"Sigh, never mind," Uesugi Sakura reached out to pat her head, "as long as you’re my wife, that’s what’s important."
...
After leaving the psychologist, they spent another two peaceful days.
In the morning, Uesugi Sakura was fast asleep on the white bed of his home.
In his dream, he was chasing a girl in a white dress under the blue sky and white clouds.
She lightly stepped on the grass, her face blurred, but the soft voice was one he had always been very familiar with—the girl he had known for a long time.
Passing through pine forests, streams, and grasslands, Uesugi Sakura finally grasped her delicate and smooth little hand. His face showed an expression of joy, and with a vigorous pull, the girl turned around in front of him, her cheeks blushing and youthful, her demeanor charmingly innocent.
She wore a black sailor suit, holding with the other hand a schoolbag from their high school days.
"Uesugi-kun..."
"Hanabi...?"
Uesugi Sakura knew she was the girl living next door, his childhood friend, but in the subconscious, he seemed to always refer to this 16-year-old girl as his wife.