新闻周刊:关于焦虑的新认识(1)（在线收听）

College graduates are the most anxious of all, surveys suggest. Last fall, members of Generation Z (those born after 1996) reported the worst mental health of any generation, with 91 percent saying they had felt physical or emotional symptoms associated with stress, such as depression or anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association. Meanwhile, more than 60 percent of college students said they had experienced "overwhelming anxiety" during the previous year, and the number of students who visited campus counseling centers increased by more than 30 percent between the fall of 2009 and 2015.

调查显示，大学毕业生是最焦虑的人群。据美国心理学会的数据，去年秋天，Z世代（1995-2009年间出生的人）的心理健康状况是所有一代人中最差的，91%的人表示，他们感到了与压力相关的身体或情感症状，比如抑郁或焦虑。与此同时，超过60%的大学生表示，他们在前一年经历了“压倒性的焦虑”，在2009年秋季至2015年期间，去校园咨询中心的学生人数增加了30%以上。

Many researchers think that the internet and social media have contributed to this trend. "The constant access to news—and the constant warnings on news sites—is incredibly stressful and can create a sense of panic," says Jenny Taitz, a Los Angeles-based author and therapist who specializes in treating anxiety. "There's a shooting here, there is this break-in there, all this information that we have access to puts danger at the forefront of our mind. How can you relax when you have access to all the bad news that's happening right at your fingertips?"

许多研究人员认为，互联网和社交媒体促成了这一趋势。“持续不断地接触新闻——以及新闻网站上不断出现的警告——会让人感到难以置信的压力，并会产生恐慌感，”擅长治疗焦虑的洛杉矶作家兼治疗师珍妮·泰茨如是说。“这里发生了枪击，这里发生了入室盗窃，所有这些我们能接触到的信息都把危险放在了我们脑海的首位。当你触手可及所有发生在你指尖的坏消息时，你怎么能放松呢？”

When I mentioned this to LeDoux, he conceded that we live in "a particularly complex time." He added: "Other generations didn't have the internet, which has turned out to be one of the worst things that's ever happened to us as a species."

当我向勒杜提到这一点时，他承认我们生活在一个“特别复杂的时代”。他补充说:“其他几代人没有互联网，这是我们人类经历过的最糟糕的事情之一。”

Luckily, the spike in anxiety comes at a time of incredible discovery for brain science. Advances in brain imaging and other techniques in recent years have vastly increased our knowledge of the neurological basis of anxiety and led to widespread optimism about the future of the field. Researchers have found that anxiety is a whole-brain phenomenon that involves the activity of complex neuronal circuits. As they proceed in identifying these circuits, they expect to uncover targets for new drugs and treatments. "I think we are on the cusp of a mental health treatment revolution," says Kay Tye, a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences. "It's an extremely exciting time."

幸运的是，焦虑的激增发生在脑科学惊人发现的时刻。近年来，脑成像和其他技术的进步极大地增加了我们对焦虑神经基础的认识，并导致了对该领域未来的普遍乐观。研究人员发现，焦虑是一种涉及复杂神经回路活动的全脑现象。当他们继续识别这些回路时，他们希望发现新药和治疗的靶点。“我认为我们正处在心理健康治疗革命的风口浪尖，”索尔克生物科学研究所的神经学家凯·泰说。“这是一个非常激动人心的时刻。”

For many of us, the revolution can't come soon enough.

对我们许多人来说，革命来得还不够快。