I have a confession to make. But first, Iwant you to make a little confession to me. In the past year, I want you tojust raise your hand if you’ve experienced relatively little stress. Anyone?
我要跟大家坦白一件事,但首先,我要各位也對我坦白。如果相對來說,你去年壓力不大的,請舉手,有嗎?
How about a moderate amount of stress?
那覺得承受的壓力算普通的呢?
Who has experienced a lot of stress? Yeah.Me too.
有沒有倍覺壓力的? 看來我們都一樣。
But that is not my confession. Myconfession is this: I am a health psychologist, and my mission is to helppeople be happier and healthier. But I fear that something I’ve beenteaching for the last 10 years is doing more harm than good, and it has to dowith stress. For years I’ve been telling people, stress makes you sick. It increases the riskof everything from the common cold to cardiovascular disease. Basically, I’ve turnedstress into the enemy. But I have changed my mind about stress, and today, I want to change yours.
不過這不是我要坦白的。我要坦承的是,我,一名健康心理學家,我的職責就是讓人們更健康快樂。不過我擔心自己這10年來傳授的與壓力有關的內容恐怕弊多于利。這些年我不斷跟人說,壓力會讓人生病,患有從一般感冒到心血管疾病的風險都隨之升高。基本上我把壓力當作敵人,但我對壓力的看法已經變了,而我今天就是要讓你們改觀的。
Let me start with the study that made merethink my whole approach to stress. This study tracked 30,000 adults in theUnited States for eight years, and they started by asking people, "Howmuch stress have you experienced in the last year?" They also asked,"Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?" And thenthey used public death records to find out who died.
先來談讓我對壓力另有看法的研究。這研究追蹤在美國的3萬名成人,歷時8年。研究首先問這些人「去年你感受到了多大壓力?」同時問他們「你相信壓力有礙健康嗎?」之后研究人員以公開的死亡統計,找出參與者中去逝的人。
Okay. Some bad news first. People whoexperienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43 percent increasedrisk of dying. But that was only true for the people who also believed thatstress is harmful for your health. People who experienced a lot of stress butdid not view stress as harmful were no more likely to die. In fact, they hadthe lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who hadrelatively little stress.
好,先說壞消息,前一年壓力頗大的人死亡的風險增加了43%。但這只適用于那些相信壓力有礙健康的人。承受極大壓力的人若不將此視為有害,死亡的風險就不會升高。事實上,與壓力相對較小的研究參與者相比,這樣的人死亡風險反而最低。
Now the researchers estimated that over theeight years they were tracking deaths, 182,000 Americans died prematurely, notfrom stress, but from the belief that stress is bad for you. That is over20,000 deaths a year. Now, if that estimate is correct, that would makebelieving stress is bad for you the 15th largest cause of death in the UnitedStates last year, killing more people than skin cancer, HIV/AIDS and homicide.
研究人員花了8年追蹤死亡案例。18.2萬美國人過早離世。原因并不是壓力本身,而是認為壓力有害的這個想法。估計超過2萬人符合這情形,若估計正確「相信壓力有害」就成為美國去年的第15大死因。致死率更勝皮膚癌、愛滋病和謀殺。
You can see why this study freaked me out.Here I’ve been spending so much energy telling people stress is bad foryour health.
你們應能體會為何這研究讓我擔心害怕了。我一直努力告訴他人,壓力有礙健康。
So this study got me wondering: Canchanging how you think about stress make you healthier? And here the sciencesays yes. When you change your mind about stress, you can change your body’s responseto stress.
因此這研究使我想知道,改變對壓力的看法是否能促進健康?顯然科學對此抱以肯定。改變看待壓力的方式,生理上的壓力反應亦隨之改變。
Now to explain how this works, I want youall to pretend that you are participants in a study designed to stress you out.It’s called the social stress test. You come into the laboratory, andyou’re told you have to give a five-minute impromptu speech on yourpersonal weaknesses to a panel of expert evaluators sitting right in front ofyou, and to make sure you feel the pressure, there are bright lights and acamera in your face, kind of like this. And the evaluators have been trained togive you discouraging, non-verbal feedback, like this. (Exhales)
我來解釋為什么會這樣。假設你參與一項意圖使你緊張的研究中,就是所謂的「社會壓力測試」。你進入實驗室后才知道要發表5分鐘的即席演說。這段演說以個人缺點為題,眼前的聽眾將是一群專業評審,為了確認你確實感到壓力,鏡頭和燈光都會聚焦在你臉上。有點像現在這樣!且評審都經過培訓,用令人沮喪的非口語言詞給你回應,就像這樣。
Now that you’re sufficientlydemoralized, time for part two: a math test. And unbeknownst to you, theexperimenter has been trained to harass you during it. Now we’re going toall do this together. It’s going to be fun. For me.
就在你已夠泄氣時,第二場好戲上演了:數學測驗。且你們事前不知道實驗己設定成受測者會被干擾,現在我們一起做做看,很好玩的,至少對我來說昰這樣。
Okay. I want you all to count backwardsfrom 996 in increments of seven. You’re going to do thisout loud, as fast as you can, starting with 996. Go! Go faster. Faster please.You’re going too slow. Stop. Stop, stop, stop. That guy made a mistake.We are going to have to start all over again. You’re not very good atthis, are you? Okay, so you get the idea. If you were actually in this study,you’d probably be a little stressed out. Your heart might be pounding, youmight be breathing faster, maybe breaking out into a sweat. And normally,weinterpret these physical changes as anxiety or signs that we aren’t copingvery well with the pressure.
好,現在你們開始倒數,從996開始,每數一個數減7。要大聲地數,越快越好,從996開始。開始!請快點!你們太慢了,停......停......停。那個人算錯了,所以我們得重來一次。這方面你們不太行,對吧?現在大家弄清楚是怎么回事了。若各位也參與這項研究,可能會有點神經緊張。也許會心跳加速,呼吸急促,甚至滿身大大汗。通常我們將這些生理變化稱為焦慮,或代表壓力失調的信號。
So my goal as a health psychologist haschanged. I no longer want to get rid of your stress. I want to make you betterat stress. And we just did a little intervention. If you raised your hand andsaid you’d had a lot of stress in the last year, we could have saved yourlife, because hopefully the next time your heart is pounding from stress, you’re going toremember this talk and you’re going to think to yourself, this is my body helping me rise tothis challenge. And when you view stress in that way, your body believes you,and your stress response becomes healthier.
所以我身為徤康心理學家的目標也改變了,不再想要幫人擺脫壓力,而是讓人更善于處理它。剛才我們所做的就是療程的一小部分。如果你剛才舉手,表示去年壓力很大,我們可以拯救你。因為,但愿下次壓力使你心跳加快時,你會記得今天的演講。然后,你會自我盤算,這是我的身體在幫助我準備迎接挑戰。當你如此看待壓力,身體會信任你的判斷,而你的壓力反應就更健康了。
Now I said I have over a decade ofdemonizing stress to redeem myself from, so we are going to do one moreintervention. I want to tell you about one of the most under-appreciatedaspects of the stress response, and the idea is this: Stress makes you social.
曾有10年的時間我視壓力為惡。為了自我改正,我們接下來再做一趟療程。我想跟你們談談壓力反應中,最受忽視的部份。這部分的概念是,壓力讓人有社交能力。
I want to finish by telling you about onemore study. And listen up, because this study could also save a life. Thisstudy tracked about 1,000 adults in the United States, and they ranged in agefrom 34 to 93, and they started the study by asking, "How much stress haveyou experienced in the last year?" They also asked, "How much timehave you spent helping out friends, neighbors, people in your community?"And then they used public records for the next five years to find out who died.
最后我想談另一個研究。聽仔細了,這研究也可救人一命。研究追蹤約1千名美國境內34到93歲的成人。研究一開始就問:「你去年有多大壓力?」接著又問:「目前你花過多少時間幫助鄰居朋友和鄰里中的其他人?」他們以這之后五年內的公開檔案,找出死亡人口。
Okay, so the bad news first: For everymajor stressful life experience, like financial difficulties or family crisis,that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent. But -- and I hope you are expectinga "but" by now -- but that wasn’t true for everyone.People who spent time caring for others showed absolutely no stress-relatedincrease in dying. Zero. Caring created resilience. And so we see once againthat the harmful effects of stress on your health are not inevitable. How youthink and how you act can transform your experience of stress. When you chooseto view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage.Andwhen you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience.Now I wouldn’t necessarily ask for more stressful experiences in my life, butthis science has given me a whole new appreciation for stress.
Stress gives usaccess to our hearts. The compassionate heart that finds joy and meaning inconnecting with others, and yes, your pounding physical heart,working so hardto give you strength and energy. And when you choose to view stress in thisway, you’re not just getting better at stress, you’re actuallymaking a pretty profound statement. You’re saying that youcan trust yourself to handle life’s challenges. And you’re remembering that you don’t have to face themalone.
好,先說壞消息。任何引起重大壓力的生活經驗,像財務困難或家庭危機,會讓死亡的風險增加30%。但是,我希望各位正期待有所轉圜,并非每個人都這樣。那些花時間關心他人的,他們的致命風險完全不受壓力影響。關愛造就韌性。我們再次見證,壓力對健康的危害并非無法避免,人的想法和行動可以轉化壓力的經驗。當人選擇將壓力反應當作助力,生理系統也跟著無所畏懼。面對壓力,選擇人際互動便能造就韌性。我不一定會希望生活中有更多壓力經驗,但這樣的科學實證讓我對壓力有全新的正面看法。
壓力讓我們跟自己的心溝通。同情心在人際交流中,得到快樂和意義。是的,加速的心跳,為的是努力產生力量和能量。當你如此看待壓力,你不只更善于處理壓力,還實際作出深刻的宣示。等于在說:你相信自己能應付生命中的挑戰,然后你想起自己并非單獨面對這一切。
Thank you.
謝謝!
「標簽: ted演講稿」
