雙語閱讀：感知多愁善感的深層意圖
摘要：女性往往情緒化。通過進化的設計，我們天生對環境敏感、能感同身受地理解孩子的需求、能直觀地感知夥伴的意圖。這是我們自身和後代生存的基本要素。有些研究顯示，與男性相比，女性往往更擅長表達自己的感情。
WOMEN are moody. By evolutionary design, we arehard-wired to be sensitive to our environments,empathic to our children’s needs and intuitive of ourpartners’ intentions. This is basic to our survivaland that of our offspring. Some research suggeststhat women are often better at articulating theirfeelings than men because as the female braindevelops, more capacity is reserved for language,memory, hearing and observing emotions in others.
女性往往情緒化。通過進化的設計，我們天生對環境敏感、能感同身受地理解孩子的需求、能直觀地感知夥伴的意圖。這是我們自身和後代生存的基本要素。有些研究顯示，與男性相比，女性往往更擅長表達自己的感情。因爲女性大腦發育的過程中，有更多容量留給了語言、記憶、聽覺和觀察他人的情緒。
感知多愁善感的深層意圖
These are observations rooted in biology, not intended to mesh with any kind of pro- or anti-feminist ideology. But they do have social implications. Women’s emotionality is a sign ofhealth, not disease; it is a source of power. But we are under constant pressure to restrainour emotional lives. We have been taught to apologize for our tears, to suppress our angerand to fear being called hysterical.
這些是植根於生物學的觀察結果，並不是爲了迎合任何女權主義或反女權主義的思想。但是，它們的確產生了一些社會影響。女性的情緒是健康而非疾病的標誌，是力量的來源。但是，我們經常面臨需要控制情感的壓力。人們叮囑我們要爲自己的眼淚道歉、要剋制憤怒，而且要擔心被人形容歇斯底里。
The pharmaceutical industry plays on that fear, targeting women in a barrage of advertising ondaytime talk shows and in magazines. More Americans are on psychiatric medications than everbefore, and in my experience they are staying on them far longer than was ever s of antidepressants and antianxiety meds have been booming in the past two decades,and they’ve recently been outpaced by an antipsychotic, Abilify, that is the No. 1 seller amongall drugs in the United States, not just psychiatric ones.
製藥行業利用了這種恐懼，在日間脫口秀節目和雜誌上投放了大量針對女性的廣告。目前，服用精神藥物的美國人比以往任何時候都多，而且根據我的經驗，他們的服藥期限也遠遠超過了預期的時長。過去20年，抗抑鬱和抗焦慮藥物的銷量一直在激增;最近，抗精神分裂藥安律凡(Abilify)的銷量超過了這兩者。它是美國所有藥物，而不僅僅是精神藥物中銷量最高的。
As a psychiatrist practicing for 20 years, I must tell you, this is insane.
作爲一個行醫20年的精神科醫生，我必須告訴你，這簡直是瘋了。
At least one in four women in America now takes a psychiatric medication, compared with one inseven men. Women are nearly twice as likely to receive a diagnosis of depression or anxietydisorder than men are. For many women, these drugs greatly improve their lives. But forothers they aren’t necessary. The increase in prescriptions for psychiatric medications, often bydoctors in other specialties, is creating a new normal, encouraging more women to seekchemical assistance. Whether a woman needs these drugs should be a medical decision, not aresponse to peer pressure and consumerism.
如今，美國至少有四分之一的女性都在服用精神藥物，而男性僅有七分之一。女性被診斷患有抑鬱症或焦慮症的可能性幾乎是男性的兩倍。對於很多女性來說，這些藥物極大地提高了她們的生活質量，但對另一些人而言卻並無必要。醫生開的精神藥物越來越多，開藥的往往是其他領域的醫生，這創造了一種新常態，鼓勵更多女性去尋求化學支持。一名女性是否需要這些藥物，應該是一個醫療決定，而不是對同輩壓力和消費主義的響應。
The new, medicated normal is at odds with women’s dynamic biology; brain and body chemicalsare meant to be in flux. To simplify things, think of serotonin as the “it’s all good” brainchemical. Too high and you don’t care much about anything; too low and everything seems likea problem to be fixed.
這種用藥的新常態不符合女性動態的生物學屬性;大腦和身體的化學物質原本就應該波動不定。爲了簡化問題，請想象血清素是產生「一切都很好」這種感覺的大腦化學物質。如果它的水平太高，人們就會什麼都不在意;如果太低，那麼一切似乎都是需要解決的問題。
In the days leading up to menstruation, when emotional sensitivity is heightened, women mayfeel less insulated, more irritable or dissatisfied. I tell my patients that the thoughts andfeelings that come up during this phase are genuine, and perhaps it’s best to re-evaluatewhat they put up with the rest of the month, when their hormone and neurotransmitter levelsare more likely programmed to prompt them to be accommodating to others’ demands andneeds.
在月經即將到來的日子裏，女性的情緒敏感度會提高，女性可能更容易受到外部影響，更焦躁或更容易感到不滿。我告訴我的患者，這個階段產生的想法和感覺是真實的，或許應該重新評估她們在一個月的其他時間裏忍受的事情——那個時候，她們的荷爾蒙和神經遞質所處的水平，更傾向於促使她們遷就他人的訴求和需要。
The most common antidepressants, which are also used to treat anxiety, are selectiveserotonin reuptake inhibitors (S.S.R.I.s) that enhance serotonin transmission. S.S.R.I.s keepthings “all good.” But too good is no good. More serotonin might lengthen your short fuseand quell your fears, but it also helps to numb you, physically and emotionally. Thesemedicines frequently leave women less interested in sex. S.S.R.I.s tend to blunt negativefeelings more than they boost positive ones. On S.S.R.I.s, you probably won’t be skippingaround with a grin; it’s just that you stay more rational and less emotional. Some people onS.S.R.I.s have also reported less of many other human traits: empathy, irritation, sadness,erotic dreaming, creativity, anger, expression of their feelings, mourning and worry.
最常見的抗抑鬱藥——這些藥也用於治療焦慮症——是選擇性血清素再攝取抑制劑(selective serotoninreuptake inhibitors，簡稱SSRI)，它能強化血清素的輸送。SSRI讓你感覺「一切都好」。但太好也不是好事，較多的血清素可能會讓你更加冷靜、抑制恐懼感，但也可能會讓你變得麻木，身體和情感上皆是如此。這些藥物經常會壓抑女性對性生活的興趣。SSRI傾向於鈍化消極情緒，而非激發積極情緒。在服用SSRI時，你可能不會面帶笑容地四處蹦跳，而只是會變得更加理性，不那麼情緒化。一些服用SSRI的人也曾透露，其他許多人之常情也減少了，諸如同理心、惱火、悲傷、性夢、創造力、憤怒、哀痛、擔憂，以及自身情緒的表達。
Obviously, there are situations where psychiatric medications are called for. The problem is toomany genuinely ill people remain untreated, mostly because of socioeconomic factors. Peoplewho don’t really need these drugs are trying to medicate a normal reaction to an unnaturalset of stressors: lives without nearly enough sleep, sunshine, nutrients, movement and eyecontact, which is crucial to us as social primates.
很明顯，有些情況是需要精神藥物的。問題是，有太多真正患病的人仍未得到治療，這多半是因爲社會經濟因素。那些並非真正需要這些藥物的人，則試圖通過服藥，讓自己對一系列反常的壓力來源做出正常的反應，諸如嚴重缺乏睡眠、陽光、營養、運動和眼神接觸——這對人類這種社會性靈長目動物至關重要。
If the serotonin levels of women are constantly, artificially high, they are at risk of losing theiremotional sensitivity with its natural fluctuations, and modeling a more masculine, statichormonal balance. This emotional blunting encourages women to take on behaviors that aretypically approved by men: appearing to be invulnerable, for instance, a stance that mighthelp women move up in male-dominated businesses. Primate studies show that giving anS.S.R.I. can augment social dominance behaviors, elevating an animal’s status in thehierarchy.
如果女性的血清素水平一直處在人爲提高的狀態，她們可能就會喪失情緒的敏感度及其自然波動，進而形成一種更男性化的、平穩的激素平衡。這種情緒上的鈍化，會促使女性做出通常被男性認可的行爲舉止，例如表現得無堅不摧，這種姿態可能有助於女性在男性主導的商業領域向上走。靈長目動物的研究表明，SSRI能增強社會支配行爲，提高動物在社會階層中的地位。
But at what cost? I had a patient who called me from her office in tears, saying she needed toincrease her antidepressant dosage because she couldn’t be seen crying at work. Afterdissecting why she was upset — her boss had betrayed and humiliated her in front of herstaff — we decided that what was needed was calm confrontation, not more medication.
不過，這麼做要付出什麼代價?有一個患者曾經流着淚從辦公室打電話給我，說她需要加大抗抑鬱藥的劑量，因爲她不能在工作場所讓人看到自己哭。我們分析了她傷心的原因——她的老闆在她的下屬面前揭她的醜並羞辱了她——隨後得出結論，她需要做的是冷靜地對抗，而不是服用更多藥物。
Medical chart reviews consistently show that doctors are more likely to give women psychiatricmedications than men, especially women between the ages of 35 and 64. For some women inthat age group the symptoms of perimenopause can sound a lot like depression, and tears arecommon. Crying isn’t just about sadness. When we are scared, or frustrated, when we seeinjustice, when we are deeply touched by the poignancy of humanity, we cry. And somewomen cry more easily than others. It doesn’t mean we’re weak or out of control. At higherdoses, S.S.R.I.s make it difficult to cry. They can also promote apathy and ge comes from the discomfort and awareness that something is wrong; we know what’sright only when we feel it. If medicated means complacent, it helps no one.
通過病例審閱可以明顯看出，相比之下，醫生給女性患者開精神治療藥物的可能性更大，尤其是35歲到64歲的女性。對於這個年齡段的一些女性來說，她們的更年期症狀聽起來可能很像抑鬱症，而且愛哭是普遍現象。哭泣不全是因爲悲傷。當我們感到恐懼或受挫、目睹不公，或是被人類的苦難深深觸動時，我們都會流淚。此外，有些女性格外愛哭。這並不意味着我們感情脆弱或處於失控狀態。高劑量的SSRI讓哭泣變得困難，它們還會讓人更加冷漠和無動於衷。只有我們感到不舒服，或意識到什麼地方不對勁，纔會做出改變;我們通過感知來判斷對錯。如果藥物讓人變得漠然，對任何人都沒好處。
When we are overmedicated, our emotions become synthetic. For personal growth, for asatisfying marriage and for a more peaceful world, what we need is more empathy,compassion, receptivity, emotionality and vulnerability, not less.
如果我們服用了過量的藥物，我們的情緒就會是人造的。爲了個人的成長、美滿的婚姻，以及更加和平的世界，我們需要的是更多的同情、悲憫、接納、情緒和脆弱，而不是更少。
We need to stop labeling our sadness and anxiety as uncomfortable symptoms, and toappreciate them as a healthy, adaptive part of our biology.
我們不能再把我們的悲傷和焦慮歸爲不適症狀，而是應該把它們當做一種健康的適應性生理現象。
林中漫步
I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn't as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was intrigued.
我實在不明白!爲什麼這個年老女士會對一片毫無用處的老灌木林如此緊張呢?她給當地報紙寫了信，甚至給全國性的報紙也寫了信，對擬將在她們村子裏修建小路的方案表示抗議。但從地圖上看，這條擬建的小路離她家並不近，那一帶也並非風景優美。這不僅使我感到迷惑，還激起了我的好奇心。
The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her.
很快就要進行對新小路的調查了，我想了解一下她反對的原因。
So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.
於是我敲響了小屋的門，一位叫瑪麗?史密斯的女士接待了我，然後她帶我去樹林中走走。
"I've always loved this place," she said, "it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it 'Lovers lane'. It's not much of a lane, and it doesn't go anywhere important, but that's why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves," she added.
“我一直深愛這個地方，”她說，“這裏珍藏了我和其他許多人的回憶。我們都曾在這個地方呆過。人們稱它爲‘情人路’。它其實並不能算是什麼路，也不通往什麼重要的地方，但這正是我們來這裏的原因。遠離他人，只有我們自己。”她補充說道。
It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels gazed from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear.
那天林間實在迷人，小鳥唱着歌，松鼠在樹枝間張望，很自在地活動，顯然這裏人跡罕至，它們一點都不害怕。
I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing.
我能想象得出，在小路修好後，汽車通過這片寧靜的樹林將會是怎樣的喧鬧，因此我猜這對她來說可能意味着些什麼。
The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman's whims.
但我堅持認爲社區的需要重於個人的意見，所以我沒說什麼。村裏目前的交通，特別是對於老人和小孩來說，尤其危險，所以對我來說他們的安全比這個老年女士的怪念頭更重要。
"Take this tree," she said pausing after a short while. "To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here." She gently touched the bark. "Look here, under this branch, what can you see?"
“拿這棵樹來說吧，”她停了一會兒說，“對你來說它只是一棵普通的樹，與這裏其它的樹沒什麼區別。”她輕輕地摸着這棵樹的樹皮說：“看這，在這個枝條下面，你看見了什麼?”
"It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife," I said after a cursory inspection.
“好像有人用小刀在這裏刻過什麼東西。”我略略看了一下後說。
"Yes, that's what it is!" she said softly. "There are letters and a lover's heart."
“是的，正是這樣!”她輕輕地說，“是一些字母和一顆愛人的心。”
I looked again, this time more carefully. The heart was still there and there was a suggestion of an arrow through it. The letters on one side were indistinct, but on the other an 'R' was clearly visible with what looked like an 'I' after it. "Some budding romance?" I asked, "did you know who they were?"
我又看了一下，這回看得認真了一些。刻的那顆心還在那，此外還依稀可以看見有支箭穿心而過。心一邊的字母已無法辨認了，但在另一邊，字母“R”清晰可見，後面還有個像是“I”的字母。“初戀羅曼史?”我問道，“你知道他們是誰嗎?”
"Oh yes, I knew them", said Mary Smith, "it says RH loves MS."
“唔，我知道。”瑪麗?史密斯說，“寫的是‘RH愛MS’。”
I realised that I could be getting out of my depth, and longed to be in my office, away from here and this old lady, snug, and with a mug of tea in my hand.
我意識到我可能涉入太深了，真希望自己身在辦公室，遠離這個地方和這個老年女士，手裏還端着杯茶，舒舒服服地。
She went on, "He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve my initials. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together，because he went away the next day, back to his Unit."
她繼續講下去：“他拿着一把袖珍折刀，折刀上嵌有長釘，那種長釘可以用來挖出夾在馬蹄上的石塊，我們一起刻了我名字的第一個字母。我們深深相愛，但他卻要離開了，而且不知道他將在軍隊裏幹什麼。當然我也曾猜想過。那是我們在一起的最後一個夜晚，因爲他第二天就回部隊去了。
Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. "His mother showed me the telegram. 'Sergeant R Holmes ... Killed in action in the invasion of France.'
瑪麗?史密斯停了一會兒，接着抽泣起來。“他母親給我看了那封電報。‘R?荷爾姆斯軍士……在解放法國的戰役中犧牲。’“
"'I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married,' she said, 'He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies' - she was like that!
我本來希望你和羅賓會結婚的。’她母親說，‘我只有他一個孩子，我本希望能做祖母，有非常可愛的小寶寶。’——她真是那麼說的!
"Two years later she too was dead. 'Pneumonia, following a chill on the chest' was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us."
“兩年後她也去世了。醫生說是‘肺炎，胸部着涼造成的’，但我認爲這是典型的傷心過度。如果有個孩子那我們倆就都不會這樣了。”
There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. "And now they want to take our tree away from me."
瑪麗?史密斯又停了會兒沒說話。她輕柔地撫摸着那棵刻過的樹，就像她曾經撫摸他一樣。“現在他們想把我們的樹奪走。”
Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. "I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn't always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forwards to."
她又輕輕地抽噎了一下，然後她轉過身來對着我。“當時我年輕漂亮，我愛嫁給誰都可以，我當時可不是現在這麼老的。我擁有生命裏所要的一切，一個值得愛的男人、健康的身體和充滿夢想的未來。”
She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. "There were others, of course, but not a patch on my Robin!" she said strongly. "
她頓了頓，朝四周看了一眼。微風輕輕吹拂着樹葉，發出嘆息般的沙沙聲。“當然， 那時還有其他人，但他們連羅賓的一絲一毫都比不上!”她肯定地說。
And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him.
“現在我一無所有——只剩下殘留在這棵樹上的記憶。那個可惡的傢伙竟建議把路修在我們所站的這個地方，我真希望掐死他
Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!"
我會對他說：你從沒愛過嗎，你活過嗎，你從不知道什麼叫記憶嗎?你知道，不僅僅是我們，現在我仍能看見些男男女女像當年的我和羅賓那樣到這兒來。是的，我一定要對他說!”
I turned away, sick at heart.
我轉過身去，心裏感到很難過。
