欧美人文风情第348篇:抑郁的原因

 Depression is the leading cause of disability in the world. 忧郁症是世界上造成人类失能的首要原因。

In the United States, close to 10 percent of adults struggle with depression. 在美国，有近百分之十的成人受忧郁症之苦。

But because it's a mental illness, it can be a lot harder to understand than, say, high cholesterol¹. 但因为忧郁症是种心理疾病，要了解它会比高胆固醇之类的困难许多。

One major source of confusion is the difference between having depression and just feeling depressed². 一个主要困惑是抑郁症和单纯情绪低落之间的区别。

Almost everyone feels down from time to time. 几乎每个人都会偶尔心情不好。

Getting a bad grade, losing a job, having an argument, even a rainy day can bring on feelings of sadness. 考试考差、失业、吵架，甚至下雨天也会引起悲伤的感觉。

Sometimes there's no trigger at all. It just pops up out of the blue.  有时候甚至没有诱因，难过的感觉就那样突然冒出来。

Then circumstances change, and those sad feelings disappear. 然后情况改变，那些悲伤的感觉也消失了。

Clinical depression is different. It's a medical disorder³, and it won't go away just because you want it to. 临床忧郁症不同，它是一种疾病，不会因为你要它消失就消失。

It lingers for at least two consecutive⁴ weeks and significantly interferes⁵ with one's ability to work, play, or love. 低落的情绪会持续至少两周，且会严重影响一个人工作、玩乐或爱人的能力。

Depression can have a lot of different symptoms: 忧郁症可能会有许多不同的病征：

a low mood, loss of interest in things you'd normally enjoy, changes in appetite, 情绪低落、对平常喜欢的事物失去兴趣、胃口改变、

feeling worthless or excessively guilty, sleeping either too much or too little,  觉得自己没价值或过度罪恶感、睡太多或太少、

poor concentration,restlessness or slowness, loss of energy, or recurrent thoughts of suicide. 注意力不集中、焦虑或迟滞、失去活力，或反覆出现自杀念头。

If you have at least five of those symptoms, 如果你有其中至少五个症状，

according to psychiatric guidelines, you qualify for a diagnosis⁶ of depression. 根据精神病学指南，你就符合忧郁症诊断。

And it's not just behavioral symptoms. Depression has physical manifestations⁷ inside the brain. 忧郁症不仅是行为上的症状，在大脑中也有具体表现。

First of all, there are changes that could be seen with the naked eye and X-ray vision. 首先，有能用肉眼及X光观察到的变化。

These include smaller frontal lobes⁸ and hippocampal volumes. 这些包含额叶和海马体积缩小。

On a more micro scale, depression is associated with a few things: 更微观的水平上，忧郁症和几样东西有关：

the abnormal transmission or depletion⁹ of certain neurotransmitters,  特定神经传导物质的反常传递或减少，

especially serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine; 特定神经传导物质的反常传递或减少，

blunted circadian rhythms, or specific changes in the REM and slow-wave parts of your sleep cycle; 生理时钟变迟钝，或睡眠周期中快速动眼期和慢波期的明显改变；

and hormone¹⁰ abnormalities, such as high cortisol and deregulation of thyroid hormones¹¹. 以及荷尔蒙失调，例如皮质醇过高和甲状腺激素异常。

But neuroscientists still don't have a complete picture of what causes depression. 不过神经科学家对忧郁症的成因仍未完全理解。

It seems to have to do with a complex interaction between genes¹² and environment, 它似乎和基因与环境间的复杂交互作用有关，

but we don't have a diagnostic tool that can accurately¹³ predict where or when it will show up. 但我们尚未有精准预测忧郁症发作时地的诊断工具。

And because depression symptoms are intangible, it's hard to know who might look fine but is actually struggling. 而且因为忧郁症病征捉摸不定，很难知道哪些看起来好好的人其实正在遭受忧郁症。

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 根据美国国家心理卫生研究院的研究，

it takes the average person suffering with a mental illness over 10 years to ask for help. 一般心理疾病患者要拖十年以上才会寻求协助。

But there are very effective treatments.Medications and therapy complement¹⁴ each other to boost brain chemicals. 但忧郁症有十分有效的治疗方法。药物和疗法相互辅助来激发脑内化学物质的生成。

In extreme cases, electroconvulsive therapy, which is like a controlled seizure¹⁵ in the patient's brain, is also very helpful. 在极端案例中，电疗法，即像是一种在患者脑部控制痉挛发作的方法也极有帮助。

Other promising¹⁶ treatments, like transcranial magnetic stimulation¹⁷, are being investigated, too. 其它备受看好的治疗方法，比如穿颅磁刺激法，也在研究当中。

So if you know someone struggling with depression, 如果你认识某个遭受忧郁症的人，

encourage them gently to seek out some of these options. 温柔地鼓励他们寻求一些方法。

You might even offer to help with specific tasks, 你甚至可以帮忙做一些事，

like looking up therapists in the area or making a list of questions to ask a doctor. 比如搜寻附近的心理治疗师，或是列出要问医生的问题清单。

To someone with depression, these first steps can seem insurmountable. 对一个有忧郁症的人来说，第一步可能难以跨越。

If they feel guilty or ashamed,point out that depression is a medical condition, just like asthma¹⁸ or diabetes¹⁹. 如果他们感到罪恶或羞愧，指出忧郁症是疾病的事实，它就像气喘或糖尿病一样。

It's not a weakness or a personality trait, and they shouldn't expect themselves to just get over it, 这不是懦弱或人格特质，他们不该指望自己就能好起来，

any more than they could will themselves to get over a broken arm. 就像他们也没办法用意志力让断臂复原一样。

If you haven't experienced depression yourself, avoid comparing it to times you've felt down. 如果你自己不曾得过忧郁症，避免拿忧郁症和心情不好作比较。

Comparing what they're experiencing to normal, 将他们的遭遇和一般短暂的难过情绪相提并论，

temporary feelings of sadness can make them feel guilty for struggling. 会让患者对自己的挣扎感到罪恶。

Even just talking about depression openly can help. 就算只是公开讨论忧郁症都有帮助。

For example, research shows that asking someone about suicidal thoughts actually reduces their suicide risk. 举例来说，研究显示，询问一个人有无自杀念头真的能降低他们自杀的风险。

Open conversations about mental illness help erode²⁰ stigma²¹ and make it easier for people to ask for help. 开诚布公地讨论心理疾病有助消弭污名，并让人们更容易寻求协助。

And the more patients seek treatment, the more scientists will learn about depression, and the better the treatments will get. 而有更多的病患寻求治疗，科学家就能越了解忧郁症，治疗方法就会变得更进步。

 

1 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

2 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。

3 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。

4 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

5 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

6 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

7 manifestations   

n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• These were manifestations of the darker side of his character. 这些是他性格阴暗面的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To be wordly-wise and play safe is one of the manifestations of liberalism. 明哲保身是自由主义的表现之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 lobes   

n.耳垂( lobe的名词复数 )；（器官的）叶；肺叶；脑叶

参考例句：

• The rotor has recesses in its three faces between the lobes. 转子在其凸角之间的三个面上有凹槽。 来自辞典例句
• The chalazal parts of the endosperm containing free nuclei forms several lobes. 包含游离核的合点端胚乳部分形成几个裂片。 来自辞典例句

9 depletion   

n.耗尽，枯竭

参考例句：

• Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
• Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕，以免耗尽土壤。

10 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

11 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

12 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

13 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

14 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

15 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

16 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

17 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

18 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

19 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

20 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

21 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。