刚刚学完了interchange里的stress relief，在新发下来的听力教程中又看到一篇how to deal with stress；今天听自己买的cnn英语视听，又听到了 the stress effect……

    咦，看来不是我娇气，压力，乃是全人类共同面对的问题呢。

    你看，heavy traffic, job pressure, working couples with kids, cell phones, e-mails, pagers and palm pilots……老米经受的压力我们也在经受着。

    节目说，Stress can set the stage for depression. Depression, 也就是大名鼎鼎的抑郁症了。还说， stress you can’t control appears to do the most harm（那些你无法控制的压力为害最巨），比如，accidents, death, job loss, the events of 9/11（这个大概是老米独有的）,even the turbulence of Wall Street（我们虽然没有华尔街，但是有沪深股市呀，那turbulence也够炒股炒成股东的股民们受的）。

    How does stress assault us?

    原来它会target and shrink the brain’s hippocampus（大脑侧面的海马状突起），where we do most of our thinking!

    Also startling（更令人惊讶的是），depression is striking at a younger age.  The typical victim used to be middle aged. Now,  it’s common to see depression in the late teens or early twenties.

    那么，what do you look for（我们怎么知道自己得了抑郁症呢）?节目说, we all feel blue at times, but if you feel that way all day for two weeks, look for at least 5 of these symptoms:

• Changes in appetite and weight
• Sleeping too little or too much
• A lack of enthusiasm
• Not feeling pleasure from your usual activities
• Restlessness or irritability
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide

    Probably the key is（关键是）， if you are reading this and wondering, hmm, I wonder if I have depression（如果你一边看一边琢磨自己是不是得了抑郁症），the best thing to do is to go and see someone（当然是医生啦）to get that evaluated（评估，判断）。

    不过节目也留了个光明的尾巴：

    Remember,  depression is one third genetic. Some people are immune to stress.  Also, say doctors, almost everyone who is depressed can be helped and return to a normal life.