Since I decided to be a psychiatrist fewyears ago, questions are around me, some even came from my friends andfamilies.

當(dāng)我決定做一名精神科醫(yī)生的時候，很多質(zhì)疑在我耳邊縈繞，甚至其中有一些來自我的家人和摯友。

“Can you at least choose a better job?”

“為什么不選擇一份體面的工作？”

“You would be surrounded by negative moodevery day!”

“天天和病人相處，負(fù)面情緒會很多。”

Or even:

甚至,

“Is there anything wrong with you?”

“你有什么要想不開的，從事這樣的工作？”

I don’t know where their understandings ofpsychiatry come from. In my perspective, it is definitely a noble andrespectful job.

我不知道是什么讓他們覺得如此高尚的職業(yè)有這么不體面。

And every time I hear their comments, avoice would come from my heart:

每每此時，我心中都會有一個聲音：

“If it is their understandings of thepsychiatry doctors, how about our patients?”

大家的目光，對醫(yī)生尚且如此，那么，對精神病患者，又會怎樣？

Ok, first let’s look at some data:

先讓我們來看一組數(shù)據(jù):

· 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem at some point intheir lives.

每四個人中會有一個人，在他的一生中，經(jīng)受著心理健康問題的折磨。

· Around 1in 10 children experience mental health problems.

大約十分之一的孩子體會過心理健康問題。

· Depression affects around 1 in 12 of the whole population.

全人類中約1/12受到抑郁的困擾。

· 450 million people worldwidehave a mental health problem.

全世界范圍內(nèi)大約四億五千萬有心理健康問題。

These are surprisingly high incidences,aren’t they?

這是一個觸目驚心的高發(fā)病率，對嗎？

It’s quite likely that one day you, one ofyour friends, colleagues or family members will experience a mental healthproblem.

這就好比說有一天你、你的朋友、同事或者家人將經(jīng)受心理健康問題的折磨。

Yet mental illness is still surrounded byprejudice, ignorance and fear.

但是心理疾病還是被偏見、無視和恐懼所圍繞。

In fact, most people who experience mentalhealth problems recover fully, or are able to live with and manage themselves,especially if they get help early on.

事實(shí)上，大多數(shù)的心理疾病患者都能痊愈，抑或帶病生存并自我管理，尤其是在他們得到早期幫助之后。

But even though so many people are affected,there is a strong social stigma attached to mental ill health, and people withmental health problems can experience discrimination in all aspects of theirlives.

但即使其發(fā)病率如此之高，社會對于心理疾病仍存有誤解，精神疾病的患者可能在生活的各個方面遭受歧視。

The situation is exacerbated by the media.Media reports often link mental illness with violence, or portray people withmental health problems as dangerous, criminal, evil, or very disabled andunable to live normal, fulfilled lives.

媒體的存在加劇了這種矛盾。媒體報(bào)道常常將精神疾病與暴力聯(lián)系起來，或?qū)⒕癫』颊呙枥L為危險(xiǎn)、邪惡的罪人，或是有嚴(yán)重殘疾而不能正常生活的病人。

This is far from the case. As someone who workwith them everyday, I know, for sure, that they are not so scary.

這與事實(shí)相去甚遠(yuǎn)。作為一個每天都和他們打交道的人，我想說的是，他們沒有那么可怕。

Many people say that beingdiscriminated against in work and social situations can be a bigger burden thanthe illness itself.

有些病人說：“在工作和社會中遭受的歧視比病痛本身的負(fù)擔(dān)更讓我無法承受?！?/span>

What does this mean?

這意味著什么？

The attitudes people have towards those ofus with mental health problems mean it is harder for them to work, to makefriends and in short, live a normal life.

大眾對于存在心理健康問題的人群的這種態(tài)度，意味著他們更難以工作、交朋友，或簡言之，難以過上正常人的生活。

· Mentally-ill people becomeisolated

精神病患者易被孤立

· They are excluded from everydayactivities

他們常被排除于日?；顒又?/span>

· It is harder to get or keep ajob

他們找工作、維持工作的難度增大

· People can be reluctant to seekhelp, which makes recovery slower and more difficult

他們可能因此不愿尋求幫助，使疾病的恢復(fù)更緩慢和困難

· Their physical health isaffected.

· 他們的機(jī)體健康也更可能受損

If we treat them like this,how can we expect them to heal?

我們這么對待他們，你讓他們怎么痊愈？

Prejudice can be blind and illogical:

有時，偏見是盲目的、沒有邏輯的：

“'If I have tumor, there is no stigma tothat. I can still get empathy and help from others. But if my brain doesn'twork well, why should I be ashamed of that?'”

Our brain is just another organ.

“如果我得了腫瘤，我還能獲得大多數(shù)人的同情和幫助。但現(xiàn)在僅僅是我的大腦不能正常工作，為什么我應(yīng)當(dāng)為此感到羞恥呢？”大腦只是我們的另一個器官而已。

People will readily admit to takingmedicine for migraine, but if I am taking medication for some kind of mentalproblem, which also occurs in the brain, why am I supposed to hide that?

人們可以很容易承認(rèn)他們正因?yàn)槠^痛而服藥，但如果我僅僅是因?yàn)橐恍┬睦砘蚓駟栴}而服藥，同樣是腦部出了問題，為什么我就必須隱瞞不說呢？

What can we do?

我們能做什么？

Remember:

記?。?/span>

· It’s not funny, for them it’spainful sufferings

記住這并不好笑，這對他們來說是欲罷不能的痛楚。

· It’s not scary. Everybody canbe ill. Don’t avoid them purposely

記住這并不可怕，你我都會得病，不要刻意躲避他們。

· If the person seems reallyunwell, and you are worried about their safety, you should encourage them toseek help.

如果他們看上去情況很糟，你擔(dān)心他們的安全，那你應(yīng)該鼓勵他們尋求幫助。

· If they try to ask for yourhelp, please do your best to provide confidential, non-judgmental emotional supportfor them. You can phone, email, write a letter or in most cases talk to them faceto face.

如果他們尋求你的幫助，盡可能為他們提供保密且不帶有評判性的情感支持。你可以給他們打電話、寫郵件或面對面交流。

· For those who are potentiallysuicidal, please keep company with them, and try to convince them to seekmedical aid.

對于有潛在自殺風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的患者，請盡量陪伴他們，并盡力說服他們接受醫(yī)學(xué)上的幫助。

Change takes time. I understand that evenif I keep telling you that they are not dangerous and that what they need ismore love and care, you will still be a little hesitant.

改變不是一個一蹴而就的過程，我知道，就算我跟你們一遍遍說他們并不可怕，他們更需要關(guān)愛，你們的心里還是隱隱約約有點(diǎn)犯怵。

Maybe it is not easy to change yourattitude in a short period of time. But I hope when you see such patientsthereafter, you could at least alter your way of thinking and don't treat themlike freaks.

你可能并沒有什么行動，可至少，當(dāng)你下一次看到那些人的時候，或許你心里會想，是不是我應(yīng)該換一種角度看待他們。

Lastly, I would like to tell you thatbecoming a psychiatrist is the single most correct path I have chosen. I amproud of this career and myself, Thank you!

最后我想說，能夠成為一名精神科醫(yī)生，是我有史以來做出的最正確的選擇，我深愛這份職業(yè)并且為此快樂和驕傲。