VOA慢速英语2014 自杀与抑郁之间有联系吗?

 

Is There a Link Between Suicide and Depression? 自杀与抑郁之间有联系吗?

The suspected suicide of actor and comedian¹ Robin² Williams is being linked, in part, to depression. Many Americans suffer from the condition. But, many also are trying to help people with depression. They are finding ways to bring attention to depression and ways to treat it.

For example, thousands of people take part in what are called “Out of the Darkness Walks.” The walkers remember loved ones they lost to suicide. They also hope to raise money for suicide prevention efforts and research into depression. Depression increases the risk of people taking their own lives.

Steve Iselin served in the Navy for 20 years. After his retirement³, he began to look for another job. That is when he began feeling hopeless.

“I had a great sense of dread⁴ every day. Agony is another word that comes to mind. I didn’t want to do anything that I would normally like to do. I had no interest in seeing other people.”

Depression makes people lose hope.

Steve Iselin found a job. But he left after one week because he told himself he could not do the work. Everything he did seemed very difficult. Decisions were painful, even having to choose what he would wear that day or what to eat. Mr. Iselin was suffering from depression.

Bob Gebbia heads the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He says being depressed⁵ is very different from being sad or having a bad day. He says that about 20 million people are found to have clinical depression in the United States every year.

Mr. Gebbia says the cause could be a combination of genetic⁶ influences, changes in brain chemistry or environmental reasons. He notes that some people are more likely than others to get depressed.

“Let’s say you lose your job, divorce, or, you know, a loss of someone.”

After Robin William’s death, the American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide released a statement.

The foundation said Mr. Williams: “brought laughter into every life he touched; Robin also suffered from depression. It is our hope that we are able to have an open conversation that depression and addictions⁷ are real illnesses that can sometimes be fatal. Every 13 minutes someone dies from suicide, and it is among the top ten causes of death in the U.S.”

The group said more needs to be done to prevent suicides.  It called for greater attention to mental health issues, warning signs and effective forms of intervention⁸ and treatment. 

Steve Iselin was lucky. His wife recognized the signs of depression. She helped him get the expert care he needed. But he says that was not true of his brother’s son. Mr. Iselin says his nephew became depressed a few years later and killed himself.

A year after his nephew’s death, Mr. Iselin visited his brother in San Francisco and heard about the Out of the Darkness Walk. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention organized the event. Both men took part.

Steve Iselin said that was the first day his brother understood that perhaps he was not to blame for his son’s death.

Since then, Steve Iselin has volunteered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, taking part in many community walks.

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 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。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

7 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

8 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。