TED中英文详解01——《如何缓解焦虑》

演讲标题：How to cope with anxiety 

演讲者：Olivia Remes

Imagine that you're getting ready to go to a party. You feel excited, but  also nervous, and you've got this feeling in your stomach almost like another  heartbeat. 

想象一下，你正准备去参加一个派对。你感到兴奋，但也很紧张，而且你的胃里有这种感觉，几乎像另一个心跳。

get ready to do sth.准备做某事 

go to a party参加一个派对 

(Not only)…but also…（不但）……而且…… 

almost like几乎就像 

There's something holding you back, holding you back from getting too happy.“No, you mustn't get too happy. Better to be cautious, otherwise,  something bad might happen.” 

有些东西阻碍了你，让你不高兴。“不，你一定不能太开心。最好小心谨慎，否 则，可能会发生一些不好的事情。” 

There be句型  There be表示有、存在的意思  

There's something……有些事情……

hold sb. back from doing sth.阻止某人做某事 

better to be adj.最好是怎样的  

better to be cautious最好小心  cautious小心点；谨慎的

otherwise否则

something+adj.怎样的事  

something bad不好的事  something good好事

You start wondering, “Who should I talk to when I get there? What if no  one wants to talk to me? What if they'll think I'm weird?” 

你开始疑惑：当我到那里的时候，我应该和谁说话? 如果没人愿意跟我说话怎么 办?如果他们觉得我很奇怪怎么办？ 

start to do/doing sth.开始做某事 

talk to sb.与某人谈话 

get there到达那里  get后常接to表示到达  

到达机场可以说get to the airport 

What if如果……怎么办

want to do sth.想要做某事 

When you arrive at the party, someone comes up to you and starts talking with you, and as this is happening, your mind starts racing, your heart  begins pounding, you start sweating, and it feels almost like you're dissociating from yourself, like it's an out-of-body experience, and you're  just watching yourself talk.“Keep it together,” you say to yourself, but you can't. 

当你到达聚会时，有人走近你，开始和你说话，当这发生时，你的思绪开始比赛， 你的心开始砰砰直跳，你开始出汗了，感觉就像你和自己分离一样，像是一种身体 外的体验，而你只是在看自己的谈话。“保持冷静，”你对自己说，但你做不到。 

arrive at到达  arrive at用于小地点，如学校、车站、公园等  arrive in用于大地点，如城市、国家等 

talk with sb.与某人谈话 

feel like感觉就像

dissociate from与……分离 

Keep it together保持冷静

And it’s just getting worse: after a few minutes of conversation, the person  you've been speaking to leaves, and you feel utterly defeated. This has been  happening to you in social situations for a long time. Or imagine every time  you go out, and you're in crowded places, you feel this panic starting to  arise. 

而且情况正在恶化：几分钟的谈话后，你一直在说话的人离开了，而你却完全被打败了。这在社交场合已经发生了很长时间。或者想象一下每次外出，当你处在拥挤 的地方，你会感到这种恐慌开始出现。 

get+比较级 变得更怎么样    get worse变得更糟糕

a few minutes几分钟 

in social situations在社交场合 

in crowded places在拥挤的地方 

When you're surrounded by lots of people, like on a bus, you start to feel  hot, nauseous, uneasy, and to prevent this from happening, you start  avoiding a lot of places which makes you feel lonely and isolated. You or the  person in both of these scenarios have anxiety disorders, and what I can  tell you is that anxiety is very common, much more than people think. 当你被很多人包围时，就像在公共汽车上一样，你开始感到闷热，恶心，不安，为 了防止这种情况发生，你开始避开很多让你感到孤独和孤立的地方。你或这两种情 况中的人都有焦虑症，我可以告诉你的是，焦虑很常见，比人们想象的要多得多。 

be surrounded by被包围

lots of people很多人  lots of和a lot of一样，都表示“很多”的意思

也可以说a lot of people

prevent sth. from happening预防、防止某事发生 

prevent sb. from doing sth.阻止某人做某事 

make sb. feel adj.让某人感到怎么样  

makes you feel lonely and isolated让你感到孤独和孤立的

much more than不只是，不仅仅是，远远超过 

Right now, one in 14 people around the world have an anxiety disorder, and  each year, it costs over $42 billion to treat this mental health problem. To show you the impact that anxiety has on someone’s life, I will just mention that anxiety can lead to depression, school dropout, suicide. It makes it  harder to focus, and to hold down a job, and it can lead to relationship  breakdown. 

现在，全世界每14个人中就有1人患有焦虑症，每年，治疗这种心理健康问题的成本超过420亿美元。为了向你们展示焦虑对人生活的影响，我只想提一下，焦虑会导致 抑郁，辍学，自杀。它使人们更难集中注意力和保住工作，也能导致关系的崩溃。

one in 14 people每14个人中就有1人

around the world全世界

anxiety disorder焦虑症

each year每年

it costs over money to do sth.花费超过多少钱做某事

it costs sb. money to do sth.做某事花费某人多少钱

mental health problem心理健康问题

school dropout辍学

lead to导致

hold down a job保住工作=keep one’s job

But a lot of people don’t know this. That’s why, a lot of times, people sweep anxiety under the rug as just nerves that you need to get over, as a  weakness, but anxiety is so much more than that. A reason why so many  people don’t think it’s important is that they don’t know what it is. 

但很多人不知道这一点，这就是为什么，很多时候，人们把焦虑藏在地毯下，把焦虑当作一种需要克服的神经紧张，把焦虑当作一种弱点，但焦虑远不止于此。很多人认为焦虑不重要是因为他们不知道焦虑是什么。

get over克服

A reason why…什么的原因

Is it your personality? Is it an illness? Is it a normal sensation? What is it?  That’s why it’s important to differentiate what is normal anxiety from what  is an anxiety disorder.

焦虑是你的个性吗？焦虑是一种疾病吗？焦虑是正常的感觉吗？焦虑是什么？这就是区分正常焦虑和焦虑障碍很重要的原因。 

differentiate a from b区分a和b；把a和b区分开来

Normal anxiety is an emotion that we all get when we’re in stressful situations. For example, let’s say, you’re out in the woods, and you come  face-to-face with a bear. This will probably make you feel a little bit  anxious, and you’ll probably want to start running like crazy. This anxious  feeling that you get is good because it protects you, it saves you, and it  makes you on a hightail it out of there, although maybe it’s not such a good idea to start running when you see a bear. 

正常的焦虑是当我们处于紧张的情况下得到的一种情绪。例如，让我们说，你在树 林里，你和熊面对面。这可能会让你感到有点焦虑，你可能想开始像疯了一样跑步。你得到的这种焦虑感很好，因为它可以保护你，它会拯救你，它会让你迅速离 开那里，虽然看到熊的时候开始跑步也许不是一个好主意。

in stressful situations在紧张的情况下 

for example举个例子 

make sb. feel adj.让某人感到怎么样  

such+a/an+形容词+单数名词  表示如此……的一个…… 

such a good idea这么好的主意

I really don’t think you can outrun a bear. Anxiety helps us meet our  deadlines at work and deal with emergencies in life, but when this anxiety  emotion is taken to the extreme and arises in situations which don’t pose a real threat, then that’s when you might have an anxiety disorder. 

我真的不认为你可以跑得过熊。焦虑有助于我们在工作的最后期限前完成任务，处 理生活中的紧急情况，但当这种焦虑情绪到了极端时，并且在不构成真正威胁的情 况下出现，那时候你可能患有焦虑症。

help sb. do sth.帮助某人做某事 

deal with sth.处理某事 

pose a real threat构成真正的威胁 

For example, people with generalized anxiety disorder worry excessively  and constantly about everything going on in their lives, and they find it very difficult to control this worry. They also have symptoms like restlessness,  fear; they find it hard to fall asleep at night, and they can’t concentrate on tasks. 

例如，患有广泛性焦虑症的人过分关注他们生活中发生的一切，他们发现很难控制 这种担忧。他们也有不安，恐惧，他们发现晚上很难入睡，他们无法集中精力完成任务。

find it adj.to do sth.发现做某事怎么样 

find it very difficult to control this worry发现要控制这种担忧非常困难

concentrate on doing sth.集中精力做某事 

fall asleep入睡

In spite of whatever kind of anxiety you might be suffering from, there is  something that you can do to lower it. It works, and it's simpler than you  may think. All too often, we’re given medication for mental disorders, but it  doesn’t always work in the long run. Symptoms often come back, and you’re  back to where you started. 

尽管你可能会遭受各种各样的焦虑，但你可以采取一些措施来减轻焦虑。这些措施 有效，而且比你想象的要简单。我们常常为精神障碍服用药物，但从长远来看，它并不总是有效。症状经常会复发，你会回到你开始的地方。

in spite of 尽管

suffer from 遭受

all too often常常

in the long run从长远来看 

So here’s something else to consider: the way you cope or handlethings has a direct impact on how much anxiety you’re experiencing, and if  you tweak the way you’re coping, then you can lower your anxiety. In our study at the University of Cambridge, we showed that women living in poor  areas have a higher risk for anxiety than women living in richer areas. 

所以这里有一些需要考虑的事情：你应对或处理事物的方式直接影响你所遭受的焦 虑程度，如果你调整你的应对方式，那么你可以降低你的焦虑。在我们剑桥大学的 研究中，我们展示了生活在贫困地区的女性焦虑的风险高于生活在富裕地区的女性。

have a direct impact on对……有直接影响  

have a risk有风险 

in our study在我们的研究中 

women living in poor areas have a higher risk for anxiety than women living  in richer areas.非常好的比较级句式 

These results didn't surprise us, but when we looked closer, we found that  women living in poor areas, if they had a particular set of coping resources,  they didn’t have anxiety, while women living in poor areas without these  coping resources had anxiety. 

这些结果并没有让我们感到惊讶，但是当我们仔细观察时，我们发现生活在贫困地 区的妇女，如果他们有一套特定的应对资源，她们就不会焦虑，而生活在贫困地区 的妇女却没有这些应对资源，那么她们就会产生焦虑。

surprise sb.使某人惊讶

a set of一套

Other studies showed that people who had faced extreme circumstances,  who had faced adversity, been through wars and natural disasters, if they  had coping resources, they remained healthy and free of mental disorders,  while others, facing the same hardships but without coping skills went on a  downward spiral and developed mental disorders. 

其他研究表明，那些面临极端情况的人，面对逆境的人，经历过战争和自然灾害， 如果他们有应对资源，他们就可以保持健康，没有精神障碍，而其他人，面对同样的困难，但没有应对技巧，就会进入恶性循环，导致精神障碍。 

show that…表明……

Other studies showed that……其他研究表明……（过去式）

remain healthy保持健康

face the same hardships面对相同的困难

So what are some of these coping resources, and how can we use them to  lower our anxiety? And before I dive into what they are, I'd like to point  out and I think this is so interesting – you can develop these coping  resources or coping skills on your own through the things that you do; you can take charge of your anxiety and lower it, which I think is so  empowering. 

那么，这些应对资源有哪些呢？我们又该如何利用它们来降低焦虑呢？在我深入探 讨它们是什么之前，我想指出，我认为这很有趣——你可以通过你所做的事情，开 发这些应对资源或应对技能，你可以控制你的焦虑，降低它，我认为这是非常有力量的。 

use sth. to do sth.使用某物去做某事

lower one's anxiety减轻某人的焦虑

take charge of负责；掌控；控制

Today I'll be talking about three coping resources, and the first one is  feeling like you’re in control of your life. People who feel like they’re more  in control of their life have better mental health. 

今天我要讲的是三种应对资源，第一种是：感觉自己掌控了自己的生活。那些觉得 自己能更好地掌控自己生活的人，心理健康状况更好。 

talk about谈论 

be in control of控制；掌控

If you feel like you’re lacking in control in life, then research shows that  you should engage in experiences that give you greater control. I’ll show  you what I mean: do you sometimes find that you put off starting something  because you just don’t feel ready enough? Do you find it hard to make decisions like what to wear, what to eat, who to date, which job to take up?  Do you tend to waste a lot of time deciding what you might do while nothing  gets done? 

如果你觉得自己在生活中缺乏控制力，那么研究表明，你应该参与那些能让你拥有 更大控制力的体验。我来告诉你我的意思：你是否有时会因为觉得准备不足而推迟 开始某件事？你是不是觉得很难决定穿什么，吃什么，和谁约会，做什么工作？你 是否倾向于浪费大量的时间来决定你要做什么，但最后什么也没做。 

be lack in缺乏

engage in参与；参加；从事于 后常接活动 同义词take part in 

put off doing sth.推迟做某事 

find it hard to do sth.发现做某事很困难  

make decisions做决定 

take up从事 

tend to do sth.倾向于做某事 

waste time doing sth.浪费时间做某事 

A way to overcome indecision and this lack of control in life, is to do it  badly. There's a quote by writer and poet GK Chesterton that says,  Anything worth doing is worth doing badly the first time.The reason why  this works so well is that it speeds up your decision-making and catapults  you straight into action. Otherwise, you can spend hours deciding how you  should go about doing something or what you should do. This can beparalyzing and can make you afraid to even begin. 

要克服优柔寡断和对生活缺乏控制的一种方法就是把事情做得很糟。作家兼诗人 G.K.切斯特顿曾说过:任何值得做的事，都值得第一次就做砸。这之所以如此有效， 是因为它加速了你的决策，让你直接行动，否则，你会花几个小时来决定你应该如何去做某事或你应该做什么，这可能会让你感到麻痹，甚至让你不敢开始。 

a way to do sth.做某事的方法 

there’s a quote by sb. that says谁曾说过 

speed up加速 

spend time doing sth.花费几小时做某事  

spend hours deciding how you should go about doing something or what you should do

be afraid to do sth.由于害怕而不愿做某事 

All too often, we aim for perfection, but never end up doing anything  because the standards that we set for ourselves are too high, they‘re  intimidating, which stresses us out. So we delay starting something, or we  might even abandon the whole thing altogether. Do it badly frees you up to  take action. 

很多时候，我们总是追求完美但最终什么都做不了，因为我们为自己设定的标准太 高，太吓人了。这让我们感到压力很大，所以我们推迟了开始做某件事的时间，或 者我们甚至可能完全放弃整个事情。做得不好会让你有时间采取行动。

stress sb. out使某人感到压力大 

delay doing sth.推迟做某事

take action采取行动 

I mean you know how it is: so often, we want to do something perfectly, we  can’t start until it’s the perfect time, until we’ve got all the skills, but this  can be daunting and stressful. So why not just jump into it, just do it  however, without worrying if it’s good or bad? This will make it that much  easier to start something and as you’re doing it badly to finish it, and when  you look back, you’ll realize, more often than not, that actually it’s not that  bad. 

我想你知道这是怎么回事，我们经常想把事情做得完美， 直到时机成熟，直到我们 掌握了所有的技能我们才能开始。但这可能是令人畏惧和有压力的，所以为什么不 直接跳进去，放马去做而不用担心它是好是坏，这会让你更容易开始做一件事。当 你很糟地做完它时，回过头看，你会发现大多时候实际上它并没有那么糟糕。 

not…until…直到……才……    until conj./prep.直到

why not do sth.为什么不做某事 

more often than not往往；多半；大多时候 

A close friend of mine who has anxiety started using this motto, and this is  what she said, “When I started using this motto, my life transformed. I  found I could complete tasks in much shorter time periods than before. Do  it badly gave me wings to take risks, to try something differently, and to  have way more fun during the whole process. It took the anxiety out of  everything and replaced it with excitement.” 

我的一位患有焦虑症的亲密朋友开始使用这句格言，她是这样说的：“当我开始使 用这句格言时，我的生活发生了改变，我发现我可以在比以前短得多的时间内完成 任务，做得不好给了我冒险的翅膀，让我尝试一些不同的东西，在整个过程中获得 更多的乐趣。它消除了一切焦虑，代之以兴奋。 

use this motto使用这句格言

give sb.wings to do sth.帮助某人做某事

take risks冒险

during the whole process在整个过程中

So do it badly, and you can improve as you go along. I’d like to ask you to think about this: if you start using this motto today, how would your life  change? 

所以做得不好，你就可以在前进的过程中不断提高。”我想请你想一想：如果你今 天开始使用这句格言，你的生活会发生怎样的变化。 

I’d like to do sth.我想做某事 

ask sb. to do sth.要求某人做某事 

The second coping strategy is to forgive yourself, and this is very powerful  if you use it. People with anxiety think a lot about what they're doing  wrong, their worries, and how bad they‘re feeling. Imagine if you had a  friend who constantly pointed out everything you’re doing wrong, and  everything that was wrong with your life. You would probably want to get rid of this person right away, wouldn't you? 

第二个应对策略是：原谅自己。如果你使用它，它会是非常强大的。患有焦虑症的 人会想很多关于他们做错了什么，他们的担忧以及他们感觉有多糟糕。想象一下， 如果你有一个朋友，他不断地指出你做错的每一件事，以及你生活中的每一件错误，你可能会想马上摆脱这个人，对吗？ 

think a lot想太多 

get rid of摆脱 

right away马上 

Well, people with anxiety do this to themselves all day long. They’re not kind to themselves. So maybe it’s time to start being kinder with ourselves,  time to start supporting ourselves, and a way to do this is to forgive yourself for any mistakes you think you might have made just a few moments ago to mistakes made in the past. 

焦虑的人整天都在这样对待自己，他们对自己不友好。所以，也许是时候开始善待我们自己了，是时候开始支持我们自己了，而做到这一点的一个方法就是原谅自己在几分钟前可能犯下的错误和过去犯下的错误。 

be kind to对某人友好 

it’s time to do sth.是时候去做某事 

a few moments几分钟 

make mistakes犯错误 

in the past过去 

If you had a panic attack and are embarrassed about it, forgive yourself; if you wanted to talk to someone, but couldn't muster up the courage to do so,  don't worry about it, let it go; forgive yourself for anything and everything  and this will give you greater compassion towards yourself. 

如果你得了恐慌症并为此感到尴尬，请原谅自己；如果你想找人倾诉却无法鼓起勇 气去做，不要担心，随他去吧。原谅自己的一切，这会让你对自己有更大的同情。 

be embarrassed about sth.对于某事感到尴尬 

don’t worry about it不要担心它 

You can’t begin to heal until you do this. And last but not least, having a  purpose and meaning in life is a very important coping mechanism. Whatever  we do in life, whatever work we produce, however much money we make, we  cannot be fully happy until we know that someone else needs us, that  someone else depends on our accomplishments, or on the love that we have  to share. 

除非你这样做，否则你无法开始痊愈。最后一点是：拥有生活的目标和意义，是一 种非常重要的应对机制。无论我们在生活中做什么，无论我们从事什么工作，无论 我们赚多少钱，我们都不可能完全快乐，除非我们知道别人需要我们，知道别人依 赖于我们的成就，或依赖于我们必须分享的爱。 

last but not least最后但同样重要的是 

make money赚钱 

someone else别人 

depend on依赖于

It’s not that we need other people’s good words to keep going in life, but if  we don’t do something with someone else in mind, then we’re at much higher  risk for poor mental health. The famous neurologist Dr Victor Frankel said,  “For people who think there’s nothing to live for and nothing more to expect  from life, the question is getting these people to realize that life is still  expecting something from them.” 

这并不是说我们需要别人的美言来维持生活，但如果我们不为别人着想，我们就更 有可能患上心理疾病。著名的神经学家Victor Frankel博士说，对于那些认为没有什 么值得活下去，也没有什么可以期待的人来说，问题是要让这些人意识到，生活仍然对他们有所期待。 

keep going 继续；维持下去 

realize that… 意识到…… 

Doing something with someone else in mind can carry you through the toughest times. You'll know the why for your existence and will be able to bear almost any how; almost any how. So the question is do you do at least one thing with someone else in mind? This could be volunteering, or it could  be sharing this knowledge that you gained today with other people,  especially those who need it most, and these are often the people who don't  have money for therapy, and they're usually the ones with the highest  rates of anxiety disorders. Give it to them, share with others, because it  can really improve your mental health.

做事时为他人着想，可以让你度过最艰难的时刻，你会知道你为什么存在，并将能 够承受几乎所有的事。所以问题是，你至少做过一件为他人着想的事吗？这可以是 志愿服务，也可以是与其他人分享你今天获得的知识，特别是那些需要的人，而这 些人往往没有钱接受治疗，他们通常是焦虑症发病率最高的人群，与他们分享，因为它能真正改善你的心理健康。 

carry you through the toughest times让你度过最艰难的时刻 

be able to do sth.能够做某事 

at least至少 

gain knowledge获得知识 

improve one’s mental health改善某人的心理健康 

So I would like to conclude with this: another way you can do something with  someone else in mind is finishing work that might benefit future  generations. Even if these people will never realize what you've done for  them, it doesn't matter, because you will know, and this will make you realize the uniqueness and importance of your life. Thank you. 

我想以此作为结束。还有一种为他人着想，你能去做的事，完成那些可能会造福后 代的工作，即使这些人永远不会意识到你为他们做了什么也没关系，因为你会知 道，这会让你意识到你生命的独特与重要，谢谢！ 

finish work完成工作 

even if即使 

it doesn’t matter没关系 

make sb. realize让某人意识到……