爲什麼越來越多的年輕人患上抑鬱症

While we all try to find happiness, sometimes we still end up feeling low. While most people can control this feeling, low moods (情緒) can stay with some, leading to depression (抑鬱).

雖然我們所有人都在努力尋求快樂，但有時我們還是會心情低落。儘管大多數人能控制好這種情緒，但一些人卻會陷入其中，導致抑鬱。

About 322 million people suffered from depression in 2015, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February. This is more than 4 percent of the world’s population.

據世界衛生組織2月發佈的一項調查報告顯示，2015年全球大約有3.22億人飽受抑鬱症的煎熬。這一數字已超過全球總人口的4%。

Depression is described by the WHO as a mental disorder (精神病). It has several symptoms (症狀) including sadness, loss of interest and feelings of low self-worth. In severe cases, depression may lead to suicide (自殺).

世界衛生組織將抑鬱症界定爲一種精神疾病，表現爲悲傷、喪失興趣、感覺自己沒有價值等多種症狀。在嚴重的情況下，抑鬱症可能會導致患者自殺。

The number of people living with depression is increasing. The WHO reported a rise of 18.4 percent between 2005 and 2015. This is not only because the world’s overall population grew, but also because life expectancies (壽命) rose.

鬱抑症患者的人數正日益上升。世界衛生組織報告稱，2005年至2015年這十年間，抑鬱症患者的人數上升了18.4%。這並不僅僅是由於世界總人口的增長，更是因爲人均壽命的增加。

There are three age groups that are particularly likely to develop depression.

有三類人羣尤其容易患上抑鬱症。

One group is the elderly (年長的), while another group is women who are pregnant (懷孕的) or have just given birth.

一種是老年人，還有一種是孕婦或者產婦。

In addition, young people are another group known to suffer with depression. “The pressures on today’s youth are like no other generation, perhaps,” Dan Chisholm of the WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse told Reuters.

除此之外，年輕人是已知的易患上抑鬱症的第三類人羣。“現今年輕人所承受的壓力或許和之前幾代人完全不一樣，”世界衛生組織精神衛生和物質濫用部門的丹·奇澤姆在接受路透社採訪時表示。

In China, depression among young people is on the rise, Zhu Zhuohong, a psychology (心理學) professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua News Agency. Competition to outperform others, especially in education, can cause a lot of pressure for Chinese youth.

中國科學院心理學教授祝卓宏在接受新華社採訪時表示，在中國，年輕人中抑鬱症患者的數量正在不斷增加。趕超他人的競爭，尤其在教育方面，會給中國年輕人帶來巨大的壓力。

Almost 1.2 million Chinese people aged 15 to 24 suffer from depression, according to a report released by British science journal The Lancet in May.

據英國科學期刊《柳葉刀》去年五月發佈的一項報告顯示，幾乎有120萬15-24歲的中國年輕人飽受抑鬱症的困擾。

“My parents always tell me my classmates are competitors. So I take them as my enemies and feel upset whenever I see them,” Xiao Min, a 14-year-old sufferer of depression, told Xinhua.

“我的父母總是和我說，我的同學們都是競爭對手。所以我將他們視作敵人，每當我看見他們，我都會覺得難受，”今年14歲的抑鬱症患者小敏（音譯）在接受新華社採訪時表示。

Luckily, more and more efforts are being made to deal with this problem. This year’s World Health Day, held on April 7, will focus on depression. The day will highlight (強調) the “Depression: let’s talk” campaign. The campaign aims to make sure that people with depression both seek (尋求) and get help.

幸運的是，爲解決這一問題人們正在做出更多的努力。今年於4月7日舉辦的世界健康日關注的就是抑鬱症這一主題。當天將啓動一項名爲“抑鬱症：我們來談談”的活動，致力於確保抑鬱症患者能夠尋求並獲得幫助。

“We feel that this is a key first step. If we want to bring mental health, depression and other mental disorders out of the shadows (陰影), we need to be able to talk about them,” said Chisholm.

“我們認爲這是關鍵的第一步。如果我們不想讓精神衛生、抑鬱症和其他精神疾病躲在陰影裏，我們（首先）需要能夠談論這些疾病，”奇澤姆表示。