第1573期:Fighting sadness without medication

It affects one in six people in England each week, according to UK charity Mind. That's the ratio of people who report experiencing a common mental health problem, such as depression. Whether temporarily down in the dumps, or chronically depressed, many rely on anti-depressants to lift their dejected mood. But, they have a cost – one ex-user told the BBC that they felt they were in a "chemical fog" and were desperate to stop. If medication is a last resort, what alternatives are there when you're feeling truly blue?

据英国慈善机构 Mind 称，它每周影响英格兰六分之一的人。这是报告遇到常见心理健康问题（例如抑郁症）的人的比例。无论是暂时情绪低落，还是长期抑郁，许多人都依靠抗抑郁药来缓解他们沮丧的情绪。但是，他们是有代价的——一位前用户告诉 BBC，他们觉得自己处于“化学迷雾”中，迫切希望停下来。如果药物是最后的手段，当你感到真正的忧郁时，还有什么选择？

What about cold-water swimming to combat melancholy? One participant, known as Sarah, took part in the 2016 BBC One series The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs. She had been taking anti-depressants since the age of 17. Two years after the show, she is off all medication and still swimming – something a recent British Medical Journal report believes may be an effective treatment for depression. Apart from the exercise and companionship of swimmers, the cold water puts the body under stress. With repeated immersions, the body better adapts not just to this physical stress, but mental stress, including the psychological problems of life that lead to low spirits.

用冷水游泳来对抗忧郁症怎么样？一位名叫 Sarah 的参与者参加了 2016 年 BBC One 系列节目《戒毒医生》。她从 17 岁开始服用抗抑郁药。演出结束两年后，她停止了所有药物治疗，仍在游泳——英国医学杂志最近的一份报告认为，这可能是治疗抑郁症的有效方法。除了游泳者的锻炼和陪伴外，冷水还会使身体承受压力。通过反复沉浸，身体不仅可以更好地适应这种身体压力，还可以适应精神压力，包括导致情绪低落的生活心理问题。

Susan Calman relies on kindness to brighten her mood. The 43-year-old comedian and author encourages others to use altruism to improve the lives of those around them. "It can be as simple as holding open a door for someone, or giving someone a compliment, or buying someone a packet of crisps while they're feeling down," she tells the BBC. In fact, anything that uplifts. "If we all started to be a bit kinder then maybe we could start seeing the world as a better place. It's really about kindness and then from that, just finding that happiness," she says.

苏珊卡尔曼依靠善意来点亮她的心情。这位 43 岁的喜剧演员和作家鼓励其他人利用利他主义来改善周围人的生活。“这可以很简单，比如为某人打开一扇门，或者称赞某人，或者在某人情绪低落时给他们买一包薯片，”她告诉 BBC。事实上，任何可以提升的东西。“如果我们都开始变得更友善一点，那么也许我们可以开始将世界视为一个更美好的地方。这真的是关于善良，然后从中找到幸福，”她说。

Or you could talk about it. Woebot is a chatbot designed to support people dealing with problems by teaching coping strategies. "There's a reason why good therapeutic approaches are conversational. It just asks the right questions so you can figure it out," Alison Darcy, founder of Woebot, tells the BBC. One user, Nick Impson, explained that Woebot relieves the potential trust issues that can occur when talking to a stranger, even a qualified one.

或者你可以谈谈它。Woebot 是一个聊天机器人，旨在通过教授应对策略来支持人们处理问题。“好的治疗方法是对话式的，这是有原因的。它只是提出正确的问题，这样你才能弄清楚，”Woebot 的创始人艾莉森·达西告诉 BBC。一位用户 Nick Impson 解释说，Woebot 可以缓解与陌生人（甚至是合格的人）交谈时可能发生的潜在信任问题。

Feeling despondent happens to everyone. When it does, you might want to try one of these methods and see if it works for you. We hope you'll be feeling as right as rain again in no time. 

每个人都会感到沮丧。当它发生时，您可能想尝试其中一种方法，看看它是否适合您。我们希望你很快就会感觉像下雨一样。

词汇表

depression 抑郁症
down in the dumps 情绪低落
depressed 感到抑郁的
anti-depressant 抗抑郁药
lift your mood 改善你的情绪
dejected 失意的
feel blue 闷闷不乐
melancholy 忧伤、忧郁
medication 药物
companionship 同伴情谊
stress 压力、紧张
low spirits 气馁，精神不振
brighten your mood 让你的心情好起来
altruism 无私的精神
feeling down 心情沮丧
uplift 鼓舞
support 给予（精神）帮助、支持
coping strategy 应对策略
therapeutic approach 治疗性手段
despondent 消沉的
as right as rain 一切良好，没事的