How to achieve good mental health

如何筑就良好的心理健康

Most Americans believe that good emotional health is just as important as good physical health. In fact, in a survey conducted in 1996, the American Psychological Association(APA) found that 84 percent of Americans feel psychological health is important for overall good health.

大多数的美国人认为良好的情绪健康和身体健康同样重要。事实上，1996年美国心理协会开展的调查发现84%的美国人认为心理健康对整体健康很重要。

The survey also found some disturbing news – 47 percent of Americans don’t know when it’s appropriate to see a mental health professional and 68 percent don’t know how to find a mental health professional to help them.

调查发现一些让人不安的信息 – 47%的美国人不知道什么时候适合去看心理医生，68%的美国人不知道怎么找心理医生去帮助他们。

People may need professional help to maintain good psychological health in much the same way that you need a dentist to examine a toothache, a physician to see a broken bone, and a lawyer to answer legal questions.

人民可能需要专业帮助维持良好的心理健康，这和你想看牙疼要找牙医、看断掉的骨头找外科医生，咨询法律问题找律师是一样的道理。

“One of the ways to achieve good mental health is to talk to people you trust about what’s bothering you,” said Dorothy Cantor, Psy.D., former president of the American Psychological Association. “Try not to turn a bad day into a major catastrophe – we all have bad days once in a while. But, if time passes and you’re still feeling overwhelmed by problems in your life, even after you have talked to people who you love, admire and trust, then perhaps it’s time to talk to a mental health professional.”

“实现良好心理健康的方法之一是和你信任的人谈论你的烦恼,”前美国心理协会主席，心理学博士桃乐西·坎托尔说道。“不要让灾难雪上加霜 – 总有日子不好过的时候。不过，如果随着时间的流逝你还是觉得这问题把你压得喘不过气来，甚至是和你钟爱，钦佩，信任的人说过这个问题，是时候找心理医生谈谈了。” 

When you have a question about your emotional health, psychologists can be a great resource. Psychologists have the necessary background and education to help you resolve your problems and help you find solutions you may not have known existed.

当你有情绪健康方面的问题，心理学家是个不错的选择。心理学家的背景和教育能够帮助你解决问题，帮助你找到你想不到的解决办法。 

After graduation from college, psychologists spend an average of seven years in graduate education training and research before receiving a doctoral degree. As part of their professional training, they must complete a supervised clinical internship in a hospital or organized health setting and at least one year of post-doctoral supervised experience before they can practice independently in any health care arena.

大学毕业之后，在拿到博士学位之前，心理学家需要花费7年的时间进行研究生教育和研究。作为他们专业训练的一部分，他们需要在医院进行监督临床实习或者组织健康机构实习，在医疗保健领域能够独自实践之前至少要有一年的博士后指导经验。

According to Dr. Cantor, learning to talk about your problems and concerns is an important part of taking good care of yourself and maintaining good psychological health.

根据坎托尔医生的说法，学会谈论你的问题和关注点是关心自己，维持心理健康的一个重要部分。 

“When you have good emotional health, you’re able to experience feelings, share them appropriately and not be overwhelmed by them. That doesn’t mean you can never be angry or sad. It means finding a balance and expressing your feeling appropriately,” said Dr. Cantor.

“当你拥有良好的情绪健康，你就能去体验这个感觉，合理地分享它而不至于被它所吞噬。这不意味着你不能生气或者伤心。它意味着你能找到平衡并且合理地表达你的感受。” 坎托尔医生说。 

Good psychological health means having the mental energy to function well at home, at work and at play. “It means being able to eat, sleep and relax without feeling anxious, depressed or worried,” she said.

良好的心理健康意味着你有精力在家中、工作中、玩耍中表现更好。“你能吃、睡和放松而没有不安、压抑、担忧的困扰。”她说。

How to maintain good mental health

如何维持良好的心理健康 

In addition to taking care of your loved ones and your career, it is important that you take care of yourself. “Find time to do things you enjoy – things that you’re passionate about. Spend time exercising and eating well.” Suggested Dr. Cantor.

另外为了照顾你的爱人和事业，照顾好自己是很重要的。“找个时间做自己喜欢的事情 – 你热衷于做的事。花时间去锻炼，每一餐都吃得好。”坎托尔医生建议。

She warns that when you put yourself last on the priority list, you’re not going to be able to maintain good psychological health. “In some instances, women put themselves low on the priority list and don’t take care of themselves. They become more concerned with taking care of everyone else and they may forget about themselves. Men, on the other hand, have a tendency to ignore signals that something is distressing them and typically won’t talk about their problems.”

她警告说当你把你放在优先表的最后一位，你就不能维持你的心理健康了。“在一些例子中，很多女性把她们放在优先表下面，也不照顾好自己。她们变得更关注关心别人而忘了她们自己。另一方面，男性倾向于忽视那些让他们苦恼的信号，一般都不会去谈论他们的问题。”

Good psychological health vs. good physical health

良好的心理健康对阵良好的身体健康

Psychological health affects physical health. “We’ve been told for so long to get physical checkups, but taking care of our emotional well-being has been solely overlooked,” she said. “We are ‘whole’ people – whole in the sense that our minds and bodies are connected. If we only take care of our physical well-being and not our emotional well-being, it could come back to haunt us.”

心理健康影响着身体健康。“我们时常被告知要去做身体检查，而处理好我们的情绪健康却唯独被忽视，”她说道。“我们是‘全’人 – 我们的想法和身体是连结在一起的。如果我们只管照顾我们的身体健康而忽略我们的情绪健康，它就会回来侵扰我们。”

“When we’re doing the things that enable us to have good emotional health, we’re far more likely to maintain both the level of physical and emotional health we need. We feel energetic and more productive at home and at work,” said Dr. Cantor.

“当我们做着让我们情绪健康的事情时，我们更像是同时在维持身体和心理健康的所需水平。在家和在工作时我们能更有活力和效率更高。”坎托尔说道。

仅为个人翻译，如若有错，不关我事。