OWNED BY PARROT01

I was struck by the fact that depression

我很不能理解为什么

is broadly perceived to be a modern, Western, middle-class thing,

人们普遍的把抑郁症看成是现代西方中产阶级特有的一种病

and I went to look at how it operated in a variety of other contexts,

于是我开始寻找抑郁症与其它社会因素的关联

and one of the things I was most interested in was depression among the indigent.

在可能相关的社会因素中，我对贫困和抑郁的关系特别感兴趣

And so I went out to try to look at what was being done for poor people with depression.

于是我做了一些研究，尝试去了解穷人是如何治疗抑郁的

And what I discovered is that poor people are mostly not being treated for depression.

我发现大多数情况下，穷人的抑郁症不会得到治疗

Depression is the result of a genetic vulnerability,

抑郁属于基因的缺陷

which is presumably evenly distributed in the population,

这意味着在不同的人群中容易抑郁的人的比例应该是一样的

and triggering circumstances,

生活环境的不同导致了发病率的不同

which are likely to be more severe for people who are impoverished.

而当人们处于贫困的生活环境中时，抑郁症的发病率更高，也更严重

And yet it turns out that if you have a really lovely life but feel miserable all the time,

但是，如果你的生活一帆风顺，然后你觉得自己一直都不开心

you think, "Why do I feel like this? I must have depression."

你会反思, "我为什么不开心? 我一定是抑郁了."

And you set out to find treatment for it.

然后你会去找医生给你治疗

But if you have a perfectly awful life, and you feel miserable all the time,

但是如果你的生活本来就很糟糕，然后你一直都不开心

the way you feel is commensurate with your life,

你的感觉和你的生活状态是相称的

and it doesn't occur to you to think, "Maybe this is treatable."

于是你就不会想到这个是病，"或许这个可以治疗一下"

And so we have an epidemic in this country of depression among impoverished people

所以实际上我们这个国家的低收入人群中，抑郁症像是传染病一样流行

that's not being picked up and that's not being treated

但是却一直没有被人注意过，没有人评估过患病的规模

and that's not being addressed, and it's a tragedy of a grand order.

也没有人为这些低收入者提供治疗，这是非常大的一个悲剧

And so I found an academic who was doing a research project in slums outside of D.C.,

后来我发现了一位研究人员，她当时正在华盛顿特区周边的贫民窟中做与之相关的一项研究

where she picked up women who had come in for other health problems and diagnosed them with depression,

当有妇女前来看其它的疾病时,她会邀请这些妇女做一个抑郁症的诊断

and then provided six months of the experimental protocol.

同时提供一份六个月的实验协议

One of them, Lolly, came in, and this is what she said the day she came in.

其中有一位女士，名叫洛莉，以下是她第一天到诊所来的自述

She said, and she was a woman, by the way, who had seven children.

她说她是一位母亲，7个孩子的母亲,

She said, "I used to have a job but I had to give it up because I couldn't go out of the house.

她说，"我曾经有一份工作, 但是不得不辞掉了，因为我无法离开我的屋子。"

I have nothing to say to my children.

我一句话都不想跟我的孩子们说

In the morning, I can't wait for them to leave,

早晨，我迫不及待的让孩子们出门上学

and then I climb in bed and pull the covers over my head,

然后立刻爬上床蒙头大睡

and three o'clock when they come home, it just comes so fast."

然后下午三点他们就陆续回家了，时间过得太快了

She said, "I've been taking a lot of Tylenol, anything I can take so that I can sleep more.

她说, "我已经吃了很多的泰诺(一种止痛药)，以及其它所有能够让我多睡一会儿的东西

My husband has been telling me I'm stupid, I'm ugly. I wish I could stop the pain."

我的丈夫一直说我蠢，说我令人讨厌，我真希望能够结束这痛苦

Well, she was brought into this experimental protocol,

然后她接受了实验协议开始进行治疗

and when I interviewed her six months later,

六个月之后当我去采访她的时候

she had taken a job working in childcare for the U.S. Navy,

她有了一份新工作，在美国海军(的幼儿园)照看孩子,

she had left the abusive husband, and she said to me,

她离开了以前那个虐待她的丈夫，她对我说

"My kids are so much happier now."

我的孩子们现在比以前开心多了

She said, "There's one room in my new place for the boys and one room for the girls,

她说，现在我的新家有两个孩子的卧室，男孩子们一间，女孩子们一间

but at night, they're just all up on my bed,

到了晚上的时候，他们都会来到我的房间

and we're doing homework all together and everything.

我们一直做家庭作业，做其它的事情

One of them wants to be a preacher, one of them wants to be a firefighter,

一个儿子立志做一名牧师，另一个想要做消防队员

and one of the girls says she's going to be a lawyer.

我的一个女儿想要做一名律师

They don't cry like they used to, and they don't fight like they did.

他们不像以前那样哭得那么频繁，也不再像以前那样相互打来打去了

That's all I need now is my kids.

看着这些孩子，我现在觉得很满足

Things keep on changing, the way I dress, the way I feel, the way I act.

一切都在不断的变好，我的穿着，我的情绪，我的言行

I can go outside not being afraid anymore,

我不会再像以前那样害怕出门

and I don't think those bad feelings are coming back,

也不会再担心糟糕的心情会卷土重来

and if it weren't for Dr. Miranda and that,

如果没有米兰达医生(那位研究人员)的帮助

I would still be at home with the covers pulled over my head, if I were still alive at all.

我现在可能还我在家里，用被子蒙住头呼呼大睡，或许我已经死了

I asked the Lord to send me an angel, and he heard my prayers."

我曾祈祷上帝为我下凡一位天使，而上帝听到了我的声音."

演讲简介：

抑郁的反面不是快乐, 而是活力. 而抑郁的时候, 我们变得死气沉沉. 在这次深刻而颠覆性地演讲中, 作家安德鲁·所罗门将我们带入了与抑郁抗争的那段日子中, 他思想中最深谙的角落. 抑郁的经历让他开始环游世界寻找并采访其他的抑郁症患者——结果他发现, 随着他演讲次数的增多, 越来越多的人开始跟他分享自己的故事。

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