时代周刊:天才设计师凯特·斯佩德自杀折射的社会趋势

A disturbing trend on the rise

令人不安的趋势方兴未艾

By Jamie Ducharme

文/杰米·杜沙姆

THE APPARENT SUICIDE OF DESIGNER Kate Spade on June 5 did more than shock and sadden her fans across the country.

6月5日，设计师凯特·斯佩德的自杀不止震惊了全国各地的粉丝，令他们陷入了巨大的悲痛。

It also reignited a conversation about the many faces—and causes—of suicide.

也再次引发了一场关于自杀的多面性——及其原因——的探讨。

The circumstances around Spade’s death remain unclear,

斯佩德之死的具体情况尚不清楚，

but the tragedy underscores a disturbing reality in the U.S.

但斯佩德的悲剧凸显了一个令人不安的现实问题：

Suicide is a growing public-health problem that doesn’t discriminate¹ on the basis of demographics.

自杀已经成为一个日益严重的公共健康问题，它不会因为人口特征而有所区别。

“This is not a condition that is related to success or failure,”

“自杀它跟成功与失败无关，”

says Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

美国疾病控制和预防中心(CDC)的首席副总监安妮·舒查特博士说道。

“No one is immune.”

“自杀面前，谁都没有免疫力。”

Federal data shows that suicide rates have increased steadily² across nearly every demographic over the past two decades, rising by 28% from1999 to 2016.

联邦数据显示，过去20年里，几乎所有人群的自杀率都在稳步上升，从1999年到2016年上升了28%。

Almost 45,000 Americans died by suicide in ’16, making it the 10th most common cause of death that year, according to the CDC.

CDC的数据显示，2016年有近4.5万名美国人死于自杀，自杀也因此成为了当年最常见死因中的第十大死因。

Increases have been so drastic that researchers have blamed suicide, along with substance abuse,

发表在最近一期《英国医学杂志》(BMJ)上的一篇社论指出，由于自杀率上升太快，

for recent declines in overall U.S life expectancy³, according to an editorial published in a recent issue of the BMJ.

研究员们纷纷将近来美国整体预期寿命的缩短归结到了自杀和药物滥用问题上。

While suicide is most common among middle-aged⁴ and older adults, rates are on the rise in many age groups.

尽管自杀在中老年人群中最为常见，但多个年龄段的自杀率都在上升。

Almost twice as many children were hospitalized for thinking about or attempting suicide in 2015 as in ’08, according to a study published in May in the journal Pediatrics.

《儿科学》5月份发表的一项研究显示，相比2008年，2015年因有过自杀念头或试图自杀而住院的儿童数量几乎翻了一倍。

Young women appear to be disproportionately affected⁵ by the overall increase.

受自杀率整体上涨影响最大的似乎是年轻女性。

The suicide rate among girls ages 10 to 19 rose by 70% from 2010 to ’16—from 423 deaths to 687—

美国疾病控制与预防中心(CDC)的数据显示，2010至2016年间，10~19岁女孩的自杀率上涨了70%——

and it hit a 40-year high among female teens in ’15, according to CDC data.

从423人上升至687人，2015年，该年龄段女孩的自杀率达到了40年来的最高水平。

This increase has been substantial enough to narrow the well-established gender⁶ gap between the numbers of boys and girls who die by suicide.

长期以来，男孩和女孩自杀人数上一直存在明显的性别差异，然而，这一增长已经足以缩小这一差异。

LOOKING BEYOND THE FIGURES, the questions they raise—why is this trend happening, and why now?—are complicated.

除了这些数字，他们提出的问题——为什么会出现这种趋势？为什么偏偏现在出现这种趋势？——也都很复杂。

Pressing public-health issues, such as the opioid crisis and rising rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness,

舒查特表示，自杀率的上升或许跟阿片类药物危机，人们罹患抑郁、焦虑和孤独等病症的比例均在上升，

are likely related to the increase in suicides, Schuchat says.

诸如此类亟待解决的公共卫生问题有关。

And research suggests that high-profile suicides like Spade’s can spur “suicide contagion,” a known public-health issue.

研究表明，斯佩德这样轰动的自杀事件会引发“自杀传染效应”，该效应已经构成了一个众所周知的公共健康问题。

In the months following actor Robin⁷ Williams’ highly publicized death by suicide in 2014, there was a 10% spike⁸ in suicides nationwide,

2014年，媒体对演员罗宾·威廉姆斯的自杀进行了广泛的报道，在其离世后的几个月里，全美自杀率飙升了10%。

according to a study published in February in the journal PLOS One.

《公共科学图书馆综合》杂志今年2月发表的一项研究显示。

Upticks in suicide have also historically coincided with economic turmoil⁹, Schuchat says,

舒克特还表示，从历史上来看，自杀率的上升与经济动荡存在同步关系。

so the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath may have influenced suicides in recent years.

由此来看，08年的金融危机及其后果可能在一定程度上推动了近年来的自杀事件。

At the individual level, however, there is almost never a single cause of suicide.

然而，从个人层面来看，自杀的原因都不止一个。

“Multiple factors are often involved,” Schuchat says.

“涉及的因素通常都有好几个，”舒查特说。

Addressing and treating mental-health issues are an important part of suicide prevention,

处理和治疗心理健康问题是预防自杀的重要内涵，

but social connectedness and support from friends, family, communities and institutions may also help people who are struggling for any reason.

不过，与外界的联系和来自朋友、家人、社区和机构的支持或许也能帮助到那些受自杀念头困扰——无论出于何种理由——的人群。

“We need to be more connected and there for each other,” Schuchat says.

“我们需要加强和这些人群的联系，及时伸出援手，”舒查特说。

“(Suicide is) widespread enough, and so, so difficult for those left behind, that we really want to do all we can.”

“(自杀)真的非常非常普遍，那些留守在家的人群更是受到了莫大的困扰，所以，我们真的想尽我们的一切所能来改善这一问题。”

1 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

2 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

3 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

4 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

8 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

9 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。