经济学人:Bartleby专栏:心理健康举足轻重(1)

 HISTORY is full of jobs that took an immense physical toll¹ on employees, 历史上，对员工们的身体造成重大伤害的工作有很多。

from miners and construction workers through to those who suffered "phossy jaw²" (a destruction of the jawbone) 比如矿工和建筑工人，以及19世纪末至20世纪初的那些

in the match factories of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 患上“磷毒性颌骨坏死”的火柴厂工人。

But it is only in the past couple of decades that workers' mental health has become more widely discussed and understood. 但是直到过去几十年，员工们的精神健康问题才逐渐被人们讨论和理解。

The first World Mental Health Day was organised in 1992; the latest was marked on October 10th. 首个世界精神卫生日是在1992年发起；最近一次是在10月10日。

Charity campaigns, like "time to change" in Britain, try to remove the stigma³ associated with mental-health problems. 一些慈善活动，比如英国的“time to change”，它们试图消除有关精神健康问题的污名。

Those problems are widespread. A recent review of studies in Europe found that 38% of the EU's population suffers from a mental disorder⁴ 那些精神健康问题广泛存在。在欧洲，一份近期的研究综述发现每年有38%的欧洲人患上某种精神障碍

(on a broad definition, ranging from anxiety to drug dependence) each year. （广义上来讲就是，焦虑症或药物依赖这样的精神疾病）。

As well as severe distress⁵, this inevitably⁶ leads to absenteeism and poor performance. 和严重的心理痛苦一样，精神障碍不可避免地会导致旷工和工作表现不佳。

The World Health Organisation⁷ (WHO) estimates that mental-health troubles cost the global economy $1trn a year in lost output. 据世界卫生组织（WHO）估计，每年心理健康问题会造成全球经济产量1万亿美元的损失。

In a survey of American workers, 63% of respondents reported that stress in the workplace had a significant impact on their mental and behavioural health. 在对美国雇员进行的一项调查中，63%的被调查对象称工作上的压力对他们的精神和行为健康有巨大的影响。

According to a study by the Confederation of British Industry, which represents big businesses, 英国工商业联合会（该组织代表着一些大型企业）的一项研究表明，

40% of employers in 2017 reported that more than 5% of their workforce⁸ had a mental-health issue. 在2017年，40%的雇主称有超过5%的员工患上了心理健康问题。

That was nearly a fourfold increase on a similar survey conducted in 2013. 和2013年进行的类似调查相比，该比例上涨了近4倍。

This higher figure may actually be an encouraging sign. As the stigma surrounding mental illness fades, more people may be willing to admit to it. 事实上这个数字的上涨或许是一个令人鼓舞的迹象。随着围绕在精神病周围的污名逐渐褪去，或许有更多的人愿意承认自己的病症。

Society has certainly come a long way in its treatment of mental health. 在治疗心理健康方面，社会确实取得了极大的进展。

When Bartleby's father suffered from depression after losing out from a job reshuffle in the 1960s, 20世纪60年代，当赫尔曼·梅尔维尔（《Bartleby, the Scrivener》的作者）的父亲在大换岗后失业因而患上了抑郁症，

the doctors suggested electric-shock treatment. 医生们建议使用电击疗法。

Bartleby's grandmother suffered from severe post-natal depression in the 1920s; she was placed in a mental home and never saw her child again. 梅尔维尔的祖母在20世纪20年代患上了严重的产后抑郁症；她被送入一家精神病院，从此再也没见过她的孩子。

Nowadays treatment is much more likely to be associated with pharmaceuticals⁹ 如今的治疗更有可能和药物

(though admittedly this can bring its own problems, notably¹⁰ the risk of addiction) and with therapy. （不可否认药物也会带来问题，尤其是上瘾的风险）以及疗法相配合。

 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

3 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

6 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

7 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

8 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

9 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。