彭蒙惠英语：When the Blues won’t Go Away

When the Blues¹ won’t Go Away

A new way to beat chronic² discontent

 

By Marjorie Rosen / This article was

published originally in Biography

Magazine. © 2003. A&E Television

Networks. All rights reserved.

 

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It can be a familiar and uncomfortable feeling: You’re frazzled, discontent and looking for something to make you happy and fulfilled. You may become enthusiastic about something new in your life—a job, a relationship, a home—but in time you completely lose that excitement and joy. Nothing seems to satisfy you. Maybe you occasionally explode over something small and insignificant³.

 

Psychologist Alan Downs calls this form of low-grade depression “chronic discontent”—and he has suffered from it himself. “For a good 10 years, from the time I was a young adult, I suffered from it,” he says. “And I did a number of things to try to manage it”—including changing jobs, relationships and cities. The condition, technically⁴ called dysthymia, can trigger a number of symptoms, including feeling frustrated⁵, stressed, irritable⁶, discouraged, cynical⁷, overwhelmed and fed up.

 

Real-life examples

Here are two examples from Downs’ book, The Half-Empty Heart: A Supportive Guide to Breaking Free From Chronic Discontent:

 

John is always taking up a new sport or becoming obsessed⁸ with a new high-tech⁹ gadget—but none holds his interest for long, and all the trappings wind up in his closet.

 

Annette has just broken off her third relationship this year. Each romance seemed promising¹⁰ initially¹¹, but after several months she became dissatisfied.

 

The origins and the results

The bottom line with chronic discontent, Downs says, is dysfunction in the way an individual feels and handles emotions. The result is difficulty feeling anything meaningful. Left untreated, it can develop into a more serious psychological problem, such as major depression. And the seeds of chronic discontent, he says, often go back to childhood when “instead of experiencing our true feelings, we learned to hide them from the world around us.”

 

 

Vocabulary Focus

blues (n pl) [blu:z] feelings of sadness

chronic (adj) [5krCnik] continuing for a long time, especially of a disease or something bad

frazzled (adj) [5frAzld] extremely tired in a nervous or slightly anxious way after a lot of mental or physical effort

fed up (adj phr) bored, annoyed or disappointed, especially by something one has experienced for too long

obsessed (adj) [Eb5sest] unable to stop thinking about something; too interested in or worried about something

 

Specialized¹² Terms

low-grade (adj) 轻度的 of a lesser¹³ or inferior quality or level

trappings (n pl) 装饰物 all the outward things that are part of something; accessories

dysfunction (n) 功能障碍 a problem or fault in something; an instance when something doesn’t behave or work normally

 

当忧郁挥之不去时

 

摆脱长期烦躁的新方法

 

杨嘉倩 译

 

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这样不舒服的感觉可能似曾相识：你满心疲惫，对生活不满，想要寻找能让你快乐又满足的东西。你可能会对生活中一些新的事物产生狂热，譬如，一个新的工作，一段新的恋情，或一个新的家。不过，过了一阵子你又完全失去兴奋感与喜悦。似乎没有任何事物可以满足你。可能你偶尔会对一些微不足道的小事而大发脾气。

心理学家艾伦·道恩把这种轻度的忧郁现象称为“长期烦躁”，而他自己也亲历其害。“整整10年，从我刚成年起，一直被这个问题困扰着。”他说，“我做了一些改变，试着要处理这个问题，包括换工作，交新的女朋友，和搬到新的城市。这个情形，严格来说，称做轻郁症，会引发一些症状，包括沮丧、紧张、易怒、灰心气馁、愤世嫉俗、感到疲于应付而且无法再忍受。”

 

真实案例

这里有两个他在《不满的心：摆脱长期烦躁的方法》书中提到的实例：

约翰总是不断从事新的运动或对新的科技产物着迷，不过他对每一样东西的兴趣都很短，而且所有的生活附属品，最后都被塞进柜子里。

安娜特刚结束今年的第三段恋情。每一段感情刚开始的时候似乎都充满了希望，可是几个月之后她又觉得不满足。

 

起源与结果

道恩说，“长期烦躁”基本上就是个体在感觉与处理情绪上的官能障碍。结果是很难觉得任何事有意义。如果不加以治疗，会发展成更严重的心理失调，像是重度抑郁症。而“长期烦躁”的根源可以追溯到孩童期，“也就是当你不愿去感受自我的真实情感，反而学会将情感对外面的世界隐藏起来。”

 

 

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

7 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

8 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

9 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

12 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

13 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。