VOA慢速英语 2008 1203a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A new study in the United States says mental disorders² appear to be common in college-age adults, but most do not seek treatment.

Researchers at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University in New York City did the study. It appears this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry³.

The study compared the mental health of college students to that of non-students the same age. About half of Americans age eighteen to twenty-four attend college.

The information used in the study came from five thousand college-age men and women. They were questioned for a national survey between two thousand one and two thousand two. About two thousand of them were college students.

The questioners were not doctors but trained interviewers. The questions were based on symptoms listed in a book widely used by doctors to identify mental disorders.

The researchers found that twenty percent of college students abused alcohol -- the most common disorder¹ in that group. Personality disorders, like obsessive⁴ compulsive disorder, came next. The study says almost eighteen percent of college students appeared to have a personality disorder. That was true of about twenty-two percent of those not in college.

The college students were also less likely to have a drug-use disorder, nicotine⁵ dependence⁶ or bipolar disorder. And they were less likely to have used tobacco. But their risk of alcohol disorders was greater.

The National Institutes of Health and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention helped pay for the study.

Over all, the study found that almost half of all the college-age individuals showed signs of at least one psychiatric disorder. The researchers say this age group may be especially sensitive to disorders because of the great pressures of entering adulthood⁷. Yet they say only one–fourth sought treatment.

Joseph Glenmullen is a psychiatrist⁸ at Harvard Medical School who believes that psychiatric medications are overused. He told the Bloomberg news agency that the finding of a psychiatric disorder in about half of those studied "seems extraordinarily⁹ high."

He says it may represent what he called "a watering down of the diagnostic criteria¹⁰ such that they capture more people with milder symptoms.'' What he is saying is that more people may be told they have a mental disorder because the definitions have been widened.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

4 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

5 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

8 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

9 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

10 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。