More College Students Seeking Help with Mental Health

越来越多的海外大学生寻求心理健康方面的帮助

Original From VOA Special English, 10 September, 2016
Translated by 温润如玉De

Over the last 10 years, the number of university students seeking help for mental or emotional problems has grown sharply.
过去的十年间，就精神和情绪方面的问题寻求帮助的在校大学生人数剧增。

A 2015 report from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health found the number of students seeking help increased at five times the rate of new students starting college during that time.
从大学生心理健康中心2015年的一份报告中发现，寻求帮助的大学生数量比刚入校的新生数量增加了五倍。

In addition, a 2015 report from the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors found anxiety to be a major problem for students. Nearly half of all students who sought help in recent years said they felt anxious. In other words, the students said they felt unusually worried or afraid.
另外，大学咨询中心管理层协会提供的一份2015年报告显示，焦虑是学生的主要问题。近年来，半成左右的学生求助者说，他们感觉到焦虑。换句话说，这些学生感到异常的担心和害怕。

An additional 40 percent of students said they felt depressed -- very, very sad.
另外40%的学生说，他们感到情绪低落。

Experts give several explanations for why the number of students seeking help for mental health issues is rising. One reason could simply be a change in American culture. In the United States, people are increasingly comfortable talking about mental health issues and bringing their problems to trained experts.
对于为何需要心理健康帮助的大学生数目增多，专家给出了几种解释。一个简单的原因是美国文化的变化。在美国，人们越来越习惯于讨论心理健康并把他们的问题交给受过训练的专家解决。

Another reason could be related to the current generation of young people attending universities today.
另一个原因与当代年轻人受过大学教育有关。

But one reason is surely higher education itself.
但是其中一个原因当然是高等教育本身引起的。

Ben Locke is the executive director at the Center for Collegiate Mental Health. He also serves as the director of counseling and psychological services at Pennsylvania State University.
Ben Locke是大学生心理健康中心的执行总监，同时他也是宾夕法尼亚州立大学心理咨询服务中心的主管。

Locke says feeling worried and sad are normal parts of life. But college is a difficult time when students want to make friends, find their identity and succeed academically.
Locke说，担忧和情绪低落在生活中是很正常的。但大学阶段学生想要交友，找到自身的认同感并在学业上取得成功，这个阶段是不容易的。

"College being a place with high demands, lots of competition and lots of concern about being able to get a good job after college, certainly increases the, the level of stress that students experience."
大学作为一个高要求和充满竞争的地方，再加上担心毕业后找不到好工作，这些无疑会加大学生所承受的压力。

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Giorgia's story
Giorgia的故事

Giorgia felt the stress of college life in a very severe way. She began her studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 2010. She wanted very badly to succeed there, but she often worried she would fail.
Giorgia面临来自大学生活的严重压力。她从2010年开始在加拿大蒙特利尔的麦吉尔大学学习。那时她非常渴望成功，但又经常担心会失败。

Giorgia asked VOA not to share her surname.
Giorgia不让VOA透漏她的姓。

Even before she went to college, Giorgia worried about things. At age 11, Giorgia was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD causes a person to focus intensely on the same thoughts and repeat the same behaviors over and over.
在她读大学之前，她就常常焦虑。11岁时，Giorgia被查出患有强迫症(OCD)。强迫症会迫使患者执念于同一个想法并不断重复同样的行为。

At McGill, Giorgia worried about her academic performance. She also worried about what she would do after college.
在麦吉尔大学，Giorgia担心她的学习成绩，她还担心毕业后不知道能做什么。

In her third year of school, Giorgia worried so much about her worrying that she began seeing a therapist. Her therapist suggested the medication called Adderall would help Giorgia with her OCD.
大学第三年，Giorgia非常担心她的心理问题，她开始进行治疗。她的治疗师建议服用阿德林(Adderall)进行治疗。

But as her final year at McGill grew closer, Giorgia only worried more.
但是快到Giorgia从麦吉尔大学毕业的最后一年，她却更焦虑了。

She stopped eating regularly and did not sleep for weeks at a time.
她开始饮食不规律并一度失眠好几周。

Her medication only made the problems worse. Her mood changed wildly. She also began to believe that her friends -- as well as complete strangers -- were watching her.
服用药物却让情况变得更糟。她的性情大变。她还开始认为她的朋友和陌生人一起监视她。

"I was aware that it was crazy. But I also thought there was no other possible way that all these coincidences could be happening. And it really freaked me out."
“我意识到事情到了令人发疯的地步。但是我也觉得除了药物没有其他原因会引发所有这些状况。我吓坏了。”

Georgia stopped leaving her apartment. And because she lived far from home, her parents did not realize how serious her anxiety was.
Georgia闭门不出。由于她离家远，她的父母并没有意识到她患有这么严重的焦虑症。

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Jason's story
Jason的故事

A young man named Jason also shared his story with VOA. Like Giorgia, he did not want to give his surname.
有位叫Jason的年轻人也向VOA分享了他的经历。和Giorgia一样，他不想透露他的姓。

Jason is from Bethesda, in the eastern U.S. state of Maryland.
Jason来自美国东部马里兰州的贝塞斯达。

Jason started seeing a therapist when he was seven years old. At that time, his therapist diagnosed him with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
Jason从7岁就开始治疗。正是在那时，他被医生诊断为注意力缺失和多动症患者(ADHD)。

This condition of the brain makes focusing for long periods of time difficult. It also affects a person's ability to think clearly before making decisions.
这种情况下，大脑无法长时间集中注意力，而且在做决定前很难静下来好好思考。

Jason says having ADHD made school difficult for him throughout his life.
Jason说，患上ADHD让他整个学习生涯很艰难。

He adds that he also struggles with depression. His therapist diagnosed him with the condition when he was in high school.
他补充到，他同时与抑郁症作斗争。高中时，医生查出来他患有该疾病。

Jason completed a two-year associate's degree at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, in the spring of 2007. He then began a bachelor's degree program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County that fall.
2007年春天，Jason获得了马里兰州罗克维尔蒙哥马利学院两年制的专科毕业证书。同年秋天，他开始在巴尔的摩县马里兰大学攻读本科学位。

But just as he began classes, his life changed in several major ways. His mother and father told him they were separating. Then his grandmother died.
但就在他开始学习时，他的人生出现了大幅转折。他的父母告诉他，他们分居了。然后他的祖母去世了。

Jason tried to stay focused on his studies. But the next year, his parents decided to make their separation permanent and get divorced. A month later, he received more horrible news: his best friend died.
Jason试图将注意力放在学业上。但是第二年，他的父母决定永久分居并离婚了。一个月后，他收到一个更可怕的消息：他的好朋友去世了。

Jason says all these things combined proved to be too much for him. Some days he was so sad he could not leave his bed. And then at one point, he considered suicide.
Jason说，所有这些事情累积在一起，让他难以承受。有一段时间，他非常难过以至于卧床不起。在某些时候，他考虑过自杀。

"I remember because I was driving home and I said to myself, ‘I wonder what would happen if I just yanked my steering wheel to the left and drove into one of these light poles. And I wonder who would come to my funeral? And I wonder if anyone would care?'"
“我记得是因为当时我正在开车回家的路上，我对自己说，‘我想知道如果我猛向左打方向盘，撞向某个灯柱，会发生什么？谁会来参加我的葬礼？是否有人在乎我？’”

As soon as Jason began thinking suicidal thoughts he knew he needed help.
一旦Jason出现自杀的念头，他就知道他需要帮助。

Next week we will continue exploring mental health issues and how they affect college students. We will hear why experts say these issues are a growing concern and what can be done.
下周我们将继续探讨心理健康问题以及它对大学生有哪些影响。我们会了解到为什么专家认为这些心理问题需要给予更多的关注以及应采取哪些措施。