外刊精读118 / Wallstreet Journal / 如何面对负面情绪
118：A Different Kind of Self-Help
一种不同的自助方式
Whenever life deals us a blow—we lose a loved one, we get sick, we fail at an important endeavor—sadness or distress are entirely appropriate responses.
每当生活给我们带来打击——我们失去了所爱的人，我们生病了，我们在一次重要的尝试中失败了——悲伤或痛苦是完全恰当的反应。
deal sb/sth a blow 打击
释义：to cause sb or sth to fail or to be affected very badly
例句：The latest trade figures have dealt a severe blow to hopes of an economic recovery.（最近的贸易数据严重打击了经济复苏的希望）
distress n.悲伤
释义：a feeling or extreme worry，sadness or pain
They come under the umbrella of what Freud called“ordinary unhappiness”;there’s nothing clinical about them and we don’t need to contact the psychiatrist.
它们属于弗洛伊德所说的“普通不快乐”的范畴；他们没有任何临床症状，我们也不需要联系精神病医生。
When, however, our unhappiness grows wildly disproportionate even to minor blips—we become depressed for weeks if a blind date ghosts us,we feel on the verge of tears at the sight of a dying moth—then we might need therapy, whether chemical or conversational. We may well be painfully aware that such moods seem inexplicable. That’s why Andrew Solomon called the memoir of his own depression “The Noonday Demon.” He could see the light that surrounded his darkness—he knew that his life was in fact going well——but he just couldn’t get to it.
然而，当我们的不开心增长严重不成比例时，即使是小插曲——如果相亲对象突然不理人，我们便变得抑郁；看到一只垂死的飞蛾，我们几乎要哭了—— 那么我们可能需要治疗，不管是化学疗法还是会话疗法。这就是为什么安德鲁·所罗门称为自己的抑郁症的回忆录“正午的恶魔。”他能看到包围他的黑暗的光明——他知道他的生活实际上进展得很顺利——但他就是无法接近它。
disproportionate adj.不成比例的
释义：too large or too small in comparison to sth else
例句：
There are a disproportionate number of girls in the class.（这个班上的女生人数不成比例。）
People on lower incomes spend a disproportionate amount of their incomes on fuel.（低收入人群在燃料上的花费与其收入不成比例。）
minor adj.微小的
释义：having little importance，influence，or effect，especially when compared with other things of the same type.
例句：
She suffered only minor injuries.（她只受了轻伤。）
It’s only a minor problem.（这只是一个小问题。）
blip n.屏幕上的光点；微不中道的小事
ghost v.突然断绝关系 n.鬼
释义：to end a relationship with sb suddenly by stopping all communication with them
on the verge of 接近于
例句：He was on the verge of saying something but stopped.（他欲言又止。）
moth n.飞蛾
memoir n.回忆录
inexplicable adj.无法说明的，解释不清的
释义：unable to be explained or understood
例句：For some inexplicable reason, he’s decided to cancel the project.（由于某种无法解释的原因，他决定取消这个项目。）
In “Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Moods,” the philosopher Mariana Alessandri offers a very different understanding of clinical mood disorders, one that at first seems like bad news but ultimately proves comforting, even uplifting.Far from being disproportionate reactions to life’s curve balls, Ms. Alessandri argues, dark moods are entirely appropriate responses to the human condition. Our date’s ghosting reminds us that love is always insecure. The dying moth warns us that life is fragile. If such events send us into a funk,well, that’s perfectly understandable.
在《夜视:透过黑暗情绪看自己》一书中，哲学家玛丽安娜·亚历山德罗对临床情绪障碍提出了截然不同的理解，这起初似乎是个坏消息，但最终证明令人欣慰，甚至令人振奋。亚历山德罗认为，阴郁情绪绝不是对生活意外的过度反应，而是对人类状况的完全恰当的反应。约会对象的“消失”提醒我们爱情总是没有安全感的。垂死的飞蛾警告我们生命是脆弱的。如果这样的事件让我们陷入恐慌，那是完全可以理解的。
uplifting adj.令人振奋的
释义：making sb feel better
disproportionate reaction 歧化反应
curve ball 意外
释义：sth such as a question or event that is surprising or unexpected, and therefore difficult to deal with
funk n.悲伤
释义：the state of being unhappy and without hope
No less important, Ms. Alessandri says, popular therapeutic bromides mask this reality, pelting us with positivity, “one perky pebble at a time.” We might think that the “light” of therapy helps dispel the distorting darkness of melancholy. But often it’s the darkness of melancholy that reveals truths to which the light of therapy blinds us. Whatever the form of treatment—a revival of ancient Epicureanism or modern “positive psychology,” smiley-face self-help books or healing visualizations—the result is to make those afflicted by mood disorders feel “bad about feeling bad.”
亚历山德里说，同样重要的是，流行的治疗陈词滥调地掩盖了这一事实，“一次一颗活泼的鹅卵石”地给我们投掷积极的情绪。我们可能认为治疗的“光明”有助于驱散抑郁的扭曲黑暗。但往往是忧郁的黑暗揭示了真相，治疗的光芒蒙蔽了我们。无论哪种治疗形式——古代享乐主义的复兴或现代“积极心理学”、笑脸自助书籍或图像治愈法——其结果都是让那些受情绪障碍折磨的人感到“对感觉糟糕感到糟糕”。
therapeutic adj.治疗的
bromide n.陈词滥调
mask
v.掩饰，遮盖
(to prevent sth from being seen or noticed)
n.口罩，面具，面膜
pelt v.投掷，扔
perky adj.活泼的
pebble n.鹅卵石
dispel v.驱散
melancholy n.悲伤，抑郁
revival n.复兴，复苏
释义：An economic revival is sweeping the country.
Epicureanism n.享乐主义
healing adj.治愈的
visualization n.形象化，可视化
afflict v.折磨
释义：a country afflicted by war
Ms. Alessandri is careful not to oppose all therapeutic intervention. As she acknowledges, “medicine has helped millions of people.” It’s just that the realities we face mean that no medicine will be powerful enough to “turn off” all of our pain. Instead we need to learn “to see in the dark.” Dark moods have their own value. They “give us access to connection, compassion, love,creativity, justice, motivation, and self-knowledge.” We shouldn’t be so desperate to get out of them.
亚历山德里女士很小心，不反对所有的治疗干预。正如她所承认的，“医学已经帮助了数百万人。”只是我们所面临的现实意味着，没有任何药物能够强大到足以“消除”我们所有的痛苦。相反，我们需要学会“在黑暗中看东西”。阴郁的情绪有其自身的价值。它们“让我们获得联系、同情、爱、创造力、正义、动力和自我认识。我们不应该这么不顾一切地想摆脱它们。
oppose v.反对
释义：to disagree with sth or sb
例句：Most of the local residents opposed closing the school.（大部分当地居民都反对关闭学校。）
compassion n.同情，怜悯
释义：a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering of others and a wish to help them
Ms.Alessandri makes her argument through a series of biographical sketches.The Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno(1864-1936)， who lost his 6-year old son to meningitis, used his own suffering to cultivate a deep, life-long compassion for the vulnerability of others. When C.S. Lewis's wife Joy Davidman died, his grief enabled him to reach new understandings of God,love and memory. As for the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, he came to see his constant anxiety as a fully appropriate reaction to human freedom. If we are responsible for our own choices, Kierkegaard reasoned, then how can we ever avoid the daily worry that we are making the wrong call? It goes with the exitential territory.
亚历山德里通过一系列传记概述阐述了自己的观点。西班牙作家米格尔·德·乌纳穆诺(1864-1936)因脑膜炎失去了6岁的儿子，他用自己的痛苦培养了对他人脆弱性的深切、终生的同情。当C.S .刘易斯的妻子乔伊·大卫曼去世时，他的悲痛使他对上帝、爱和记忆有了新的理解。至于丹麦哲学家索伦·克尔凯郭尔，他认为自己持续的焦虑是对人类自由的完全恰当的反应。克尔凯郭尔认为，如果我们要对自己的选择负责，那么我们怎么能避免每天都担心自己做出了错误的决定呢?它与存在主义领域有关。
biographical sketch 简短的传记，小传
meningitis n.脑膜炎
cultivate v.培养
grief n.悲伤，悲痛
释义：great sadness, especially at the death of sb
existential adj.存在主义的
And then there is the Mexican-American scholar Gloria Anzaldúa (1942-2004), who was made to feel shiftless and lazy by family and friends for abandoning her destined life as a farm worker. Treating her consequent depression as a portal to self-knowledge, she gradually realized that the path she chose, in which she wrote books that helped others in their struggles, was one of comparable industriousness and productivity.
墨西哥裔美国学者Gloria Anzaldúa (1942-2004)，由于放弃了她和家人朋友注定的农场工人生活而感到无能和懒惰。她将随之而来的抑郁视为自我认识的门户，并逐渐意识到她选择的道路——她写书帮助别人摆脱困境——是一条勤奋和生产力之一。
shiftless adj.懒惰的
destined adj.命中注定的；指定的
portal n.大门，门户
comparable adj.类似的，可比较的
释义：similar in size, amount or quality to sth else
例句：
The girls are of comparable ages.（这些女孩的年龄相仿。）
Our prices are comparable to/with those in other shops.
industriousness n.勤奋，勤勉
Ms. Alessandri relates these stories with insight and sensitivity. In doing so she makes a persuasive case against the superficiality of “don’t worry, be happy” peppiness. Even so, her governing imagery of darkness versus light misses something important.
Alessandri女士将这些故事与洞察力和敏锐建立了关联。在这样做的过程中，她提出了一个有说服力的例子，反对“不要担心，要快乐”这种肤浅的乐观态度。即使如此，她关于黑暗与光明的主导意象遗漏了一些重要的东西。
superficiality n.浅薄，肤浅
peppiness n.活泼，精力充沛
In the grip of mood disorders, many of us are apt to liken the experience not so much to darkness as to grayness. The writer Barbara Ehrenreich, for example, saw her own depression as a “gray fog.” This makes a difference. It might be possible, over time to learn to see in darkness. But it's not possible, even over time, to learn to see in fog.Yes, bouts with melancholy enabled the figures Ms.Alessandri discusses to perceive truths that they might otherwise never have gleaned. But that's not necessarily a common experience. For many, all they can see is their own misery, especially since depression,anxiety and grief can descend simultaneously, blurring into one another and sharing similar symptoms.
在情绪障碍的控制下，我们中的许多人倾向于把这种经历比作灰色，而不是黑暗。例如，作家芭芭拉·埃伦赖希就把自己的抑郁看成是一团“雾霭”。这是有区别的。随着时间的推移，我们有可能学会在黑暗中看清事物。但是，即使随着时间的推移，也不可能学会在雾中看清事物。是的，抑郁的发作使亚历山德里女士所讨论的这些人物能够感知到原本可能永远不会收集到的真相。但这并不一定是一种普遍的经历。对许多人来说，他们只能看到自己的痛苦，尤其是因为抑郁、焦虑和悲伤可以同时降临，彼此模糊，并有相似的症状。
in the grip of 陷入，被...控制
释义：to be experiencing sth unpleasant that you have no control over
例句：The country is currently in the grip of the worst recession in 20 years(这个国家目前正在经历20年来最严重的衰退。)
apt to 有...的倾向
释义：to be likely to do sth
liken v.把...比作
bout n.发作，发病期
glean v.收集
descend v.笼罩，降临
例句：
Silence/Darkness descended on the room.
A feeling of despair descended on as we realized that we were lost.(当我们意识到我们迷路时，一种绝望的感觉降临了。)
blur v.模糊
例句：This film blurs the line/distinction/boundary between reality and fantasy.（这部电影模糊了现实与幻想之间的界限/区别/界限。）
Nor is light necessarily the best metaphor for what happiness therapists are trying to provide. When people are in a gray fog, what they are longing for—so they will often say—is not light but color. This too makes a difference. We perceive light as monochromatic, while color comes in a variety of shades. And so do positive moods, from the hot “orange” of joyful exuberance, as the psychologist Marvin Levine describes it, to the cool “purple” of relaxed tranquility. Even in the excitement we feel as we close in on a goal, we often long for the relaxation we will experience once we succeed.As soon as we are able to relax, we miss the excitement we once had. While we are quite capable of complete misery, as Ms. Alessandri herself notes, complete contentment is difficult to attain.
光也不一定是治疗师试图提供快乐的最好的隐喻。当人们置身于灰色的雾中时，他们所渴望的——他们常说——不是光，而是色彩。这也有所不同。我们认为光是单色的，而颜色则有各种的色调。积极的情绪也是如此，从心理学家马文·莱文描述的快乐旺盛的热“橙色”，到放松宁静的冷“紫色”。即使在我们接近目标时感到兴奋，我们也常常渴望成功后的放松。一旦我们能够放松，我们就会想念我们曾经拥有的兴奋。正如亚历山德里女士自己指出的那样，虽然我们完全有能力经历完全的痛苦，但完全的满足很难实现。
metaphor n.隐喻，暗喻
例句：Metaphor and simile are the most commonly used figures of speech in everyday language.（隐喻和明喻是日常语言中最常用的修辞手法。）
long for 渴望
perceive v.察觉，认为
释义：to come to an opinion about sth, or have a belief about sth
例句：New technology was perceived as/to be a threat to employment.（新科技被视作为对就业构成的一种威胁。）
monochromatic adj.单色的
exuberance n.精力充沛的
tranquility n.宁静
close in 接近，逼近
contentment n.满足，满意
=happiness and satisfaction
attain v.获得 实现
释义：to reach or succeed in getting sth=achieve
例句：We need to identify the best ways of attaining our objectives.
Ms. Alessandri criticizes happiness therapists for trying to “suppress, deny,and reject” unhappiness.But many are attempting,not always successfully,something else: getting us to value, prolong and savor whatever happiness we can achieve without itching for more. The Epicureans recommended that we restrict our desires to food, drink,music, nature, and spending time with family and friends. Such easily accessible pleasures,they reasoned, suffice to bring us the entire range of happy feelings, from exuberance to tranquility. We don’t need anything further. Modern positive psychologists, in the same vein, advise us to pursue goals that are lofty but not too lofty: challenging enough to keep us excited yet sufficiently within reach to keep us relaxed. Such mid-range activities, they argu,stave off both the depression we risk when our accomplishments seem too mundane and the anxiety we feel when our pursuits seem too daunting.
亚历山德里批评心理治疗师试图“压抑、否认和抗拒”不开心。但也有很多治疗师在尝试别的东西，但并不总是成功:让我们珍惜、延长和享受我们所能获得的任何幸福，而不是渴望更多。享乐派建议我们将欲望限制在食物、饮料、音乐、自然以及与家人和朋友共度的时光上。他们认为，这些简单易得的快乐足以给我们带来充盈的幸福感，从精力充沛到平和宁静。我们不需要追求更多的东西了。现代积极心理学家也持同样的观点，建议我们追求崇高但又不太崇高的目标:既要有足够的挑战性，让我们兴奋，又要足够触手可及，让我们放松。他们认为，这种中等程度活动既可以避免当我们的成就看起来太平庸时我们所冒的抑郁风险，也可以避免当我们的追求看起来太令人生畏时我们所感到的焦虑。
suppress v.克制，抑制
释义:to prevent sth from being seen or expressed
例句：She couldn’t suppress her anger/delight.
prolong v.延长
释义：to make sth last a longer time
savor v.尽情享受
例句：to enjoy food or an experience slowly, in order to enjoy it as much as possible
例句：We should savor everything that life has to offer.
itch v.&n.渴望；痒
suffice v.足够(sufficient adj.)
vein n.静脉
lofty adj.崇高的，高尚的
stave off 避开
mundane adj.平凡的，平庸的
释义：very ordinary and therefore not interesting
例句：The film was a mundane family sitcom.（电影是一部平庸的家庭喜剧。）
daunting adj.艰巨的，使人畏惧的
例句：Reforming the welfare system is a daunting task.（改革福利制度是一项艰巨的任务。）
If we could learn to be more satisfied with what might be called “ordinary happiness,’then maybe we would suffer less depression and anxiety. That, at any rate,is the presumption of much therapy, ancientand modern.Ms.Alessandri certainly does us a service in calling attention to the value of dark moods. We do need better nightvision. But we need better color vision too.
如果我们能学会更多地满足于所谓的“平凡的小确幸”，那么也许我们就不会那么抑郁和焦虑了。无论如何，这是许多治疗方法的假设，无论是古代的还是现代的。亚历山德里女士在唤起人们对阴郁情绪价值的关注方面确实为我们做出了贡献。我们确实需要更好的夜视能力。但是我们也需要更好的色觉。
presumption n.推测，设想
释义：the act of believing that sth is true without having any proof
例句：
The presumption of innocence is central to American law.（疑罪从无是美国法律的核心。）
There is no scientific evidence to support such presumptions.（这些推测是没有科学依据的。）
at any rate 无论如何，至少
释义：whatever happens
