有聲英文閱讀-恐怖癥及其對各方面的影響

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Panic and Its Effects

One afternoon while she was preparing dinner in her kitchen, Anne Peters, a 32-year-old American housewife, suddenly had severe pains in her chest accompanied by shortness of breath. Frightened by the thought that she was having a heart attack, Anne screamed for help. Her husband immediately rushed Anne to a nearby hospital where her pains were diagnosed as having been caused by panic, and not a heart attack.
More and more Americans nowadays are having panic attacks like the one experienced by Anne Peters. Benjamin Crocker, a psychologist at the University of Southern California, reveal that as many as ten million adult Americans have already experienced or will experience at least one panic attack in their lifetime. Moreover, studies conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States disclose that approximately 1.2 million adult individuals are currently suffering from severe and recurrent panic attacks.
These attacks may last for only a few minutes; some, however, continue for several hours. The symptoms of panic attacks bear such remarkable similarity to those of heart attacks that many victims believe that they are indeed having a heart attack.
Panic attack victims show the following symptoms: they often become easily frightened or feel uneasy in situations where people normally would not be afraid; they suffer shortness of breath, experience chest pains, a quick heartbeat, sudden fits of trembling, a feeling that persons and things around them are not real; and most of all, a fear of dying or going crazy. A person seized by a panic attack may show all or as few as four of these symptoms.
There has been a lot of explanations as to the causes of panic attacks. Many claim that psychological stress could be a logical cause, but as yet, no evidence has been found to support this theory. However, studies show that more women than men experience panic attacks and people who drink a lot as well as those who use drugs are more likely to suffer attacks.
It is reported that there are at least three signs that indicate a person is suffering from a panic attack rather than a heart attack. The first is age. People between the ages of 20 and 30 are more often victims of panic attacks. The second is sex. More women suffer from recurrent panic attacks than men. The third is the multiplicity of symptoms. A panic attack victim usually suffers at least four of the previously mentioned symptoms, while a heart attack victim often experiences only pain and shortness of breath.
It is generally agreed that a panic attack does not directly endanger a person's life. All the same, it can unnecessarily disrupt a person's life by making him or her so afraid of having a panic attack in a public place that he or she may refuse to leave home and may eventually become isolated form the rest of society. Dr. Crocker's advice to any person who thinks he is suffering from a panic attack is to consult a doctor for a medical examination to rule out the possibilities of physical illness first. Once it has been confirmed that he or she is, in fact, suffering from a panic attack, the victim should seek psychological and medical help.

恐怖癥及其對各方面的影響

一位32剛的美國家庭婦女安妮o彼得斯，一有天下午正在廚房里做晚餐，突然她胸部劇痛，并發(fā)著呼吸短促。安妮感到恐怖，因為她想到這可能是心臟病發(fā)作了，于是她尖叫著喊救命。安妮的丈夫立即把她送到附近一家醫(yī)院。在這家醫(yī)院，她的胸痛被診斷是由恐怖癥引起的，而不是心臟病發(fā)作。
現(xiàn)在不像以前了，有越來越多的美國人得了安妮o彼得斯所經(jīng)歷的這種恐怖癥。據(jù)一位南加州大學的心理學家本杰明o克拉克披露的消息說，有多達一千萬的美國成年人在一生中最低限度有過一次或?qū)頊蕰幸淮慰植腊Y發(fā)作的經(jīng)歷。此外，美國國立心理健康研究院所進行的反復調(diào)查研究的結果披露的資料說明，有近一百二十萬美國成年人現(xiàn)在患有嚴重的反復發(fā)作的恐怖癥。
這些恐怖癥發(fā)作起來，有的只持續(xù)兩三分鐘，可是，也有的能持續(xù)好幾個小時。這些恐怖癥發(fā)作的種種癥狀與心臟病發(fā)作的那些癥狀有著十分明顯的相似之處，以致有很多患者都認為他們確實是、真的是心臟病發(fā)作了。
恐怖癥的患者都會表現(xiàn)出下列癥狀：一、他們很容易受到驚嚇，甚至在正常情況下，一般人都不會感到害怕的場合下，他們都會感到神經(jīng)緊張不安；二、他們呼吸短促，胸部疼痛，心跳加快，陣陣發(fā)抖；（這里應為"："號-譯者注）三、他們覺得周圍所有的人和種種情況都不是真實的；四、最為嚴重的是，有的害怕自己快要死了或快要發(fā)瘋了。一個恐怖癥發(fā)作了的人會表現(xiàn)出這一切癥狀或者說至少會表現(xiàn)出上述四種癥狀（一、二、三、四為本文譯者所加）。
關于恐怖癥發(fā)作的致病原因有很多種解釋。很多人主張說心理上的緊張壓力從邏輯上來說應該是致病的原因，不過到現(xiàn)在為止還根本沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)有任何證據(jù)能支持這一理論。不過，多方面調(diào)查研究顯示女人比男人恐怖癥發(fā)作的經(jīng)歷多，嗜酒成癖的人和吸毒的人更容易犯恐怖癥發(fā)作的病。
據(jù)報導至少有三種跡象可以表明某人得的是恐怖癥而不是心臟病。第一是年齡，20到30之間的人更容易患恐怖癥。第二是性別，女性比男性更容易患恐怖癥。第三是癥狀的多樣性。一位恐怖癥患者通常至少會有本文先前提到的上述四種癥狀，而心臟病發(fā)作時患者通常只有疼痛和呼吸短促。
一般人都一致認為恐怖癥發(fā)作時不會直接危及到一個人的生命。盡管如此，恐怖癥會不必要地擾亂了一個人的生活秩序，會使一個為因為非常害怕恐怖癥發(fā)作而不敢到公共場所去，結果這個患者就不敢離開家一步，終于導致與世隔絕?？死酸t(yī)生的囑咐是，凡認為自己患有恐怖癥的人都要請醫(yī)生做體格檢查以便首先排除有器質(zhì)性病變的可能。一旦患者被確認為事實上得的是恐怖癥，那么患者就應尋求心理治療，配合藥物治療。