【英语语言学习】抑郁症

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Many subjects that were once considered impossible to talk about are now dinner table conversation. The taboo¹ of mental illness can still be difficult. Eva Rosenfeld and Madeline Halpert are high school students who are editors of their school newspaper in Ann Arbor², Mich. They wanted to devote an issue to their struggles and those of fellow students with depression. But the school said no, citing³ privacy⁴ rights and concern for those students who might participate. So, Eva Rosenfeld and Madeline Halpert wrote a piece that appeared in the New York Times. They join us now from the studios of Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor. Thank you both very much for being with us.

EVA ROSENFELD: Thank you for having us.

MADELINE HALPERT: Thank you for having us.

SIMON: Well, let me ask you both in turn. My gosh, from your high school newspaper to the New York Times. Why was it so important to write this?

ROSENFELD: Well, the stigma⁵ around mental illness is super prevalent⁶. And Madeline had come forward to me about her depression. She was able to talk about it totally casually⁷, and it really changed the way that I thought about my own depression. And I felt like that was a message that anyone struggling with it needed to hear.

COREY FLINTOFF, BYLINE⁸: Madeline Halpert, why did you think it was important to talk about it?

HALPERT: I also shared my experiences with Eva, and it felt really amazing to be able to talk to somebody about it. And I think that it's great that there are so many professionals to talk to, and, you know, your close friends. But it's really not the same as talking to somebody who understands exactly what you're going through.

And so our intentions were to try and get the word out and say, you know, if you have a mental illness, there's no shame in that. And you can talk about it, and we can be there for each other.

SIMON: Students don't talk about depression among themselves?

HALPERT: I think they do. But I think often, they don't come forward and say they have it, which makes it harder to find people to talk to who understand what they're going through.

SIMON: We contacted the Ann Arbor Public Schools. They say in the statement, they support your desire to bring an awareness⁹ of mental illness to students in the school, and parents and the whole community, but just not in the student newspaper. How do you feel about that?

ROSENFELD: We respect their opinion. We completely understand that there is privacy issues, and that the students well-being¹⁰ is in their hands. And they felt like they didn't want to do anything to risk it. And we do understand that there are negative consequences. We understand there are positive consequences as well, and we felt that those positive consequences were - they outweighed¹¹ the negative consequences.

You know, with the people who had articles written about them - their parents signed a consent form. We didn't out people. They outed themselves. And we consider those individuals to be strong individuals - I am one of them. And I know that I could handle the negative repercussions¹².

SIMON: Let me ask you a question, Madeline Halpert. The Ann Arbor Public Schools said they had concerns that students who might participate in the special issue that you had in mind might be comfortable with it now, but might not know the repercussions of it down the road. Isn't there a difference between feeling fine with it when you're 17, and then 10 years later, perhaps, regretting the fact that you identified yourself this way when you go to apply for a job or somebody Googles you?

HALPERT: I think that definitely somebody might regret it, but I would most certainly not regret it. I know for myself that I would not want to work in a place that would discriminate¹³ against somebody for having a mental illness.

SIMON: Well, is it always just a matter of discrimination?

ROSENFELD: Well, here we are showing - putting a face on depression that is high-functioning people. It just goes to show that depression, although it can be crippling¹⁴, doesn't necessarily mean that you're any less of a productive¹⁵ human.

SIMON: What kind of reaction are you getting from friends, from people in the community?

ROSENFELD: We've gotten a really positive reaction from the community. Lots of people are coming forward and saying they think we're very brave for doing this. Many people contacted us to say that this article really resonates with them, even that it's given them the courage to talk to someone about depression or any other struggles that they weren't able to talk to people about before.

HALPERT: And I think, most importantly, it's opening a dialogue. So, we got over 200 comments. There were negative comments. There were positive comments. But the most important thing is that it's so amazing to see people discussing this and finally opening up about it.

SIMON: Eva Rosenfeld and Madeline Halpert, who are editors of the student newspaper at Community High School, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Thanks so much for being with us.

ROSENFELD: Thanks for having us.

HALPERT: Thank you so much.

1 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

2 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

3 citing   

引用( cite的现在分词 )； 传唤； 记起； [军事]传（或通）令嘉奖

参考例句：

• It's no use citing the Bible to somebody who doesn't believe in God. 对不信上帝的人引用圣经的话是没用的。
• It's no use citing the Bible to a non-Christian. 对非基督徒引用《圣经》是没用的。

4 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

5 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。

6 prevalent   

adj.流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• The habit of travelling by aeroplane is becoming more prevalent.乘飞机旅行的习惯变得越来越盛行了。
• Colds are prevalent in the winter.伤风在冬季很普遍。

7 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

10 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

11 outweighed   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• This boxer outweighed by his opponent 20 pounds. 这个拳击选手体重比他的对手重20磅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She outweighed me by ten pounds, and sometimes she knocked me down. 她的体重超过我十磅，有时竟把我撞倒。 来自百科语句

12 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 crippling   

adj.严重损害身体的；有严重后果的v.削弱“cripple”的现在分词；使受损

参考例句：

• He was burdened with crippling debts. 他负债累累，深受其害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The American military presence on the islands had suffered a crippling blow. 该群岛上的美国部队受到了严重打击。 来自辞典例句

15 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。