Why does a certain ability drop significantly over a short period of time and continue for many years?

If you don't train, practice, or put certain abilities into practice, they will undoubtedly be lost over time.

If you haven't trained a certain skill for a period of time during the New Year or holidays, and this skill is not one that you are very proficient in, then it will undoubtedly be weakened and weaker.

The primary school students of the Hani people in Honghe often play sports and do outdoor exercises at school, and they are given very little homework. This is why their eyesight is very good. In contrast, the primary, junior high, and high school students in some big cities have a very high myopia rate.

In big cities, people often use their eyes and come into contact with electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, televisions, and whiteboards, which increases the likelihood of myopia. In contrast, primary school students in Honghe Hani have not had much academic pressure, so their eyesight is excellent. Similarly, if a skill is always used, it can become more proficient.

It can even have side effects, which people usually call occupational diseases. If you find that your ability in a certain area has declined significantly, it is likely that you have spent too much time on other things.

Let me be clear: if your other abilities increase, this ability will decrease. I recently observed a case in Honghe Harlem where elementary school students have increased their motor skills, but their academic workload has decreased significantly.

It is a simple fact that primary school students in big cities have improved their ability to do exercises, but their eyesight has declined. It is very common for a certain ability to decline sharply in a short period of time and continue to decline for many years. This is because if you don't use, create, and improve a lot of abilities, learning is like rowing a boat against the current: if you don't advance, you will fall behind.

This ability will decline. You find that after the New Year, when school starts again, you suddenly can't write an essay anymore, and you get blank answers twice in the civil service exam's big writing section. This is because your writing ability was never particularly good to begin with. Coupled with a period of inactivity, without any practice, it is inevitable that your writing ability will decline more and more.

This ability cannot be acquired overnight. It requires a long period of artistic cultivation, as well as a certain level of knowledge and vocabulary to achieve a sense of epiphany. Not all random word combinations can form a good essay or a rough draft.

The requirements for composition and writing are, in fact, becoming increasingly rigorous.

Restrictions on the subject matter will undoubtedly limit people's ability to express themselves. It's crucial to recognize when your ability has declined and identify where your time has been spent. Ask yourself: have you spent a few hours a day practicing writing for the past seven days?

If not, I'd like to know where your time has gone.

Our time is precious. It's divided into sections like painting a cake. If you want to improve your writing skills, you have to train better. Browse related content and get the psychological counseling you need to gain confidence. Keep up the good work!

What is the question?

Greetings. I am the place of peace.

Following the Chinese New Year, when the college entrance exam retake year commenced, you were unable to compose essays and frequently submitted blank papers. In the three civil service exams, you submitted blank papers on two occasions and were compelled to write something on one occasion, resulting in a markedly low score.

It appears that you abruptly lost even the most fundamental writing abilities, which caused you to feel significantly distressed, anxious, and helpless.

In the aforementioned description, the subject states, "After the New Year, when I repeated the college entrance exam, I did not write an essay when school resumed." This prompts the question of whether any particular events that occurred during the New Year left a profound impression on the subject.

Please describe any special experiences you may have had.

Please describe your emotional state when you became aware of your inability to compose an essay. How did you respond to this realization?

What was the response of the parents?

Were any measures taken to address the issue? Did you engage in more writing and practice, seek assistance from educators or professional tutoring?

If so, what were the results? What was your score in the composition section of the college entrance exam?

Please describe your emotional state and that of your parents.

Please describe your performance on the initial college entrance examination in terms of the composition component. Did your final score reflect a decline due to your performance on the composition component?

If this is the case, what were your emotional responses at the time? How did your parents react?

Can you accept their reaction?

What is your understanding of the act of writing? How do you perceive your own abilities in this regard?

Please describe the emotions you experienced when you saw the composition questions for the two college entrance exams and the three civil service exams.

Let us consider the possibility that a negative experience with composition led to the development of a fear of writing. This fear may have been shaped by a history of criticism and ridicule from parents, teachers, and peers. The fear of being scolded, criticized, or mocked for writing poorly may have become deeply ingrained.

In order to circumvent feelings of frustration, defeat, shame, and a lack of recognition, understanding, and acceptance, I elected to refrain from responding and submit a blank paper.

It is possible that the following thought has occurred to you: "I do not write, I can merely say that I do not wish to write, rather than acknowledging my inability to do so effectively. When I do attempt to write in earnest, my grades remain unsatisfactory, leaving me with no viable solution."

It must be acknowledged that this is merely a conjecture. Should it be erroneous, I would be most grateful if it could be pointed out.

Ultimately, each individual is the primary authority on their own experiences and capabilities. They are the sole arbiter of their own challenges and perceptions.

It may be necessary to muster the courage to confront the truth, to explore and listen to one's heart to ascertain what desires are unmet and what one truly desires.

Additionally, one might inquire as to the nature of their fears and the aspects of their lives they would like to alter.

What aspects of my situation can I modify?

Should you wish to do so, you may also opt to seek the assistance of a counselor. They are well-positioned to provide you with more professional and effective guidance and help.

It is my sincere hope that you will find success in your endeavors.

Hello! I'm a psychological counselor, and I'm here to help!

Ms. Liu, the amazing panda!

I'm excited to share my thoughts with you, even though I know they might not be perfect. I truly hope that my perspective can help you solve your current problems. After reading your autobiography, I noticed that your writing ability suddenly declined during the big exam that year. When you needed to use your writing ability in various situations later, you felt constrained and even experienced a continuous decline.

There are so many reasons for this!

First, in the growth of abilities, there may be a psychological "plateau phenomenon." This is an opportunity for a positive change! When a lack of timely adjustment occurs, it can set in motion a negative cycle. But, with the right adjustments, we can avoid this cycle and keep growing!

In reality, this fascinating situation where a certain ability declines sharply over a short period of time and continues for many years does exist! Each individual situation is unique, which makes the causes more complicated. I will just list the "plateau phenomenon" in psychology, which may provide you with a new dimension of attribution.

The "plateau phenomenon" is an intriguing concept in educational psychology. It refers to a temporary pause or decline in the process of learning or skill formation. But don't fret! This phenomenon is actually a natural part of the learning journey. It manifests in a growth curve as a certain level that does not rise, or a decline. But after breaking through the "plateau phenomenon," the curve can be seen to continue rising again. So, keep up the great work! You're on the right track.

In terms of ability type, it's absolutely everywhere! It's highly prevalent in complex and long-term ability learning.

In terms of group type, it mostly occurs in groups with high learning pressure and fierce competition—and not only in school but also in vocational ability improvement and talent selection exams!

Now, let's dive into the specifics. If you're a student experiencing this, it might show up as a plateau or even a decline in your overall grades. Or, it could manifest in a specific subject or even a specific discipline.

Long-term tracking studies in educational psychology have shown us that our abilities can grow in leaps and bounds! If we can break through the "plateau phenomenon" and keep pushing, we will become more adept in the future.

However, if it happens at a particularly important time, we experience a stronger sense of frustration and helplessness, and subconsciously develop psychological resistance to certain types of activities. This is an opportunity for growth!

If we adjust our mentality and accumulate targeted abilities at a later stage, we can avoid that initial frustration when encountering similar activities. Coupled with a lack of self-confidence, we can turn that around and develop new ideas!

I felt like I had reached my full potential, and the core of the problem was that we were disappointed in ourselves.

2. When we have serious self-doubts about a certain project, we often unconsciously choose to "avoid" it in the overall project assessment later. This is an opportunity to learn and grow!

This kind of "avoidance" doesn't mean we've given up on it. It means we've recognized it as a subject we need to work on and have set ourselves the challenge of improving it.

According to your own description, when you were in high school, your composition was only average, which was also the average score. But it was definitely not your strong subject! We all know that we should improve our weak points and give full play to our strengths, and I'm excited for you to do so!

But in reality, it was a different story! For example, when I was in junior high school, my math grades were consistently in the upper middle range. In high school, math was no longer my strong subject, but I was excited to explore other areas of interest. I also experienced a sudden "blackout" after exams, and my grades were not ideal in subsequent exams. During parent-teacher conferences, my teachers also told my parents that my math was not a strong subject, meaning that I needed to spend more time on it. This gave me the chance to try new things and discover new passions!

However, it seems that because of my successive unsatisfactory grades, I have a lot of "misgivings" about this subject. When studying my own strengths, I will be confident, but when studying mathematics, I will be very anxious. Looking back, I discovered that I had an unconscious tendency to prefer devoting a lot of time to subjects that I was "good at," even though teachers and parents had repeatedly told me that I should "support my weaknesses."

When doing the exercises, I would hope that I could answer them well, but it was always the opposite. This situation continued for more than a year. It took a long time to get my mind right, but it was worth it! Once I started reviewing and practicing a lot from the most basic knowledge points, things really started to change.

Dear friend,

Your scores on other questions in the civil service exam are very stable, which is great! However, writing, especially structured official writing, is an important part of the score. If you just want to leave nothing blank and write whatever comes to mind, it seems a bit sloppy. Most likely, you just need more training, dedication, and attention to the writing section. It can be seen that your focus and time allocation for reviewing for the exam are unbalanced. It seems that when doing exercises, you may often skip the writing section, which is totally fine!

The more reluctant we are to touch it, the more resistance we will encounter, and the more likely it is that we will fail to complete the composition. But that's OK! We can do this.

It's likely that our lack of practice has resulted in insufficient experience in tackling the challenge. But there's no need to worry! Whether you hand in a blank paper or write some words on it, it will lower our overall score.

3. Based on your situation, I would love to make the following suggestions:

(1) It's time to face our current true level, understand our true level, and use this as a basis to establish new goals!

Perhaps there are many regrets in the past, and we will constantly feel the gap with the former, initial self. As a result, we will trap ourselves in the shadow of past failures and fall into a vicious cycle. But don't worry! How we evaluate ourselves and what perspective we use to think about things is very important, and I'm here to help.

People are developmental. You are not really "degenerating" or unchangeable. You just felt banished from composition after the blow of your student days, but you can come back! When you needed to study this section later, you probably didn't put enough effort into it, but you can do better next time!

The past is the past, and it's time to move on!

Let's grasp the present!

Otherwise, we'll have more regrets and a state of inferiority that may affect our mental health. But we can avoid that!

If you currently assess yourself as having the writing ability of an elementary school student, don't be discouraged! If we roughly understand our current writing ability, we can use this as a basis and establish a learning coordinate system. Rome wasn't built in a day, and a high building is built floor by floor. We can divide the gap between our big goal (such as completing the public exam essay) and our current state into several phased goals.

For example, let's dive into the exciting process of writing an essay! First, understand the question and determine the core idea. Next, outline the main points and establish a structure. You can use a general-specific structure or other structures, and roughly know what points each paragraph will cover. Then, write the key words for each paragraph. Expand on the content based on the key words. Use some language techniques to enrich the content, such as parallelism, metaphors, quotations, etc. Finally, produce some finishing touches to enhance the main idea.

Take it one step at a time and work steadily!

(2) Once you've set your goal, it's time to make it happen! Create a study plan and start working towards it.

I think that official document writing is different from other types of writing, and it's an exciting difference! There are so many styles of writing, whether it's prose or argumentative writing. The key is to "speak with substance," which means expressing what you think and think in written form.

However, public examinations writing, especially those involving administrative documents, have stricter requirements for structure and language. We sometimes feel that this style of writing is very "exam-oriented," but from another perspective, it is precisely because of its standardized model that it is easier to train. The good news is that through repeated perseverance, we can achieve the basic requirements and even more!

The great news is that the teacher's assessment of the marking is progressive. Even better, our growth is also progressive! Like many subjective questions, the teacher's assessment of the marking is also most likely to "mark the points" for the score.

If you just try to make up the number of words to get a score, then if we have a fluke mentality, coupled with nervousness, it will be easy not to be able to write. But don't worry! There's an easy way to get around this.

I've got some great advice for you!

Before you start writing, read more and don't skip it! There are so many great resources out there, like the practice questions and past exam papers. And there's even a final essay question! You don't have to look at the question directly before writing, but it's a great idea to read how the "model essay" is written. You can set a small goal every day, like how many essays to read. When reading, focus on the opening and ending paragraphs, as well as the first sentence of each paragraph in the middle.

Ready to establish the habit of speaking? Make reading a part of your routine! Jot down some notes on the pithy phrases, sentences, and examples in the text.

I think you should definitely try making a "book of excerpts"!

Do you remember those awesome summary exercises your teachers used to assign in school? We'd buy a notebook and, while reading a text, summarize the key words and phrases. It was such a great way to learn the logic of good writing! And we also had to memorize some good quotes from famous people.

And finally, I'd like to suggest that you try your hand at writing!

The important thing is to persevere. The process is painful, but it'll all be worth it in the end! Establishing any habit is difficult, but establishing the habit of writing will help you improve your "sense of writing." In fact, your question is almost a small article. You are not as bad as you say. You have the ability to express yourself and organize logically. You just need to tap your potential! The most difficult part is whether we can focus on the main topic and expand on it. Doesn't Yixinli have all kinds of topic groups? Every day, the official will also give a lot of topics for discussion. You can try to keep writing, and little by little you will make progress!

That's all I've got to say for now!

Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it!

I'm thrilled to be a counselor at Yixinli!

Please, ask me anything! I'm here to help. Let's communicate, talk, and analyze together.

Greetings, question asker.

It is reasonable to posit that this problem has been a source of distress for a considerable period of time.

As you are aware, this issue was identified following the year in which you took a second attempt at the college entrance examination. It has persisted for a considerable length of time.

I would be pleased to discuss this matter with you further and hope that it will provide some inspiration.

1. Please recall the events that transpired at the time.

On occasion, individuals undergo a sudden and significant change in their characteristics or abilities.

To illustrate, although I was previously not proficient in essay writing, I was at least at an average level.

Nevertheless, there has been a notable decline in performance.

It would be beneficial to ascertain whether someone unintentionally discouraged you at that time.

For example, one might posit that the act of repeating the examination places undue pressure on the individual. In such instances, the subconscious mind develops coping mechanisms, which may manifest as avoidance or confrontation.

Is an inability to compose essays a valid rationale for suboptimal academic performance?

Due to this unidentified reason, I am unable to compose essays and perceive myself as lacking competence. Consequently, I will persist in this endeavor.

Nevertheless, even if this inquiry does not yield a definitive answer.

The same rationale applies in your case, given that you are now taking the civil service exam.

Was the decision to take the exam made of your own volition, or was it a familial expectation?

Have you attempted to secure gainful employment?

What difficulties would be encountered in the absence of the civil service examination?

At times, individuals may be reluctant to confront certain realities, and may even attempt to circumvent problematic situations by creating insurmountable obstacles.

2. The reason a problem exists is that an action or series of actions must have been taken.

There are numerous instances wherein the desire to resolve a problem is so strong that the very process of attempting to do so can, in fact, serve to exacerbate the problem at hand.

Similarly, individuals who experience insomnia and employ a multitude of strategies to address it may find that their condition persists or even worsens.

It is possible that you are unable to write an essay, but it is also possible that you are eager to find a solution to the problem. You may engage in exhaustive efforts to compose the essay, or you may issue yourself a directive to record the requisite information, yet the outcome is not optimal.

It is evident that you are capable of expressing yourself and writing, as evidenced by your ability to ask your question here. However, it is only when it comes to formal writing that you experience confusion.

Consider the following: your question for assistance is not, in and of itself, an essay.

One might inquire as to the reason for this inability to write.

As a general rule, the more demanding one is on oneself, the less one is able to accomplish.

It is therefore recommended that you do not regard your inability to write an essay as a problem. Instead, you should attempt to express yourself in accordance with the requirements of the examination, which should result in a satisfactory outcome.

3. It is important to understand the phenomenon of the "completion collapse effect."

It is possible that you have experienced this phenomenon previously. However, it is worth noting that when a word is observed for an extended period of time, it can lose its familiarity, even if it was previously known.

A word that has been encountered on numerous occasions, whether in written, auditory, or visual form, may subsequently be rendered unrecognizable.

An additional example is provided by the act of repeatedly writing one's own name. In this case, the subject may initially perceive an inconsistency between the actions and the outcome, but may subsequently recognize that the act is, in fact, not erroneous.

This phenomenon is referred to as "semantic saturation" and is also known as the Gestalt collapse effect.

Indeed, all of the body's activities are controlled by the brain. The phenomenon known as "semantic saturation" can be understood as the brain's response to fatigue.

When one is truly motivated to write an essay to express one's thoughts, it is possible that this phenomenon may also occur.

Typically, I am able to articulate my thoughts effectively in written form. However, when confronted with the task of composing an essay, I find that my cognitive processes become impeded, hindering my ability to organize my ideas in a coherent manner.

One might consider attempting this approach. Is not the objective of writing an essay merely to express one's thoughts in a clear manner?

Asking a question is a relatively straightforward task. It would be beneficial to apply the same approach to writing.

Do not consider the inability to compose essays to be an issue.

It would be beneficial to read more books, exercise logical thinking skills, learn writing techniques, relax, and write more often. These activities may result in noticeable improvements over time.

Please disseminate these findings.

I extend my warmest wishes to you.