经济学人 中英对照美国自杀事件令人发指地无底洞

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2024年4月25日发(作者：)

Suicide in America

美国自杀事件

An awful hole

令人发指地无底洞

Why more Americans are killing themselves

为何越来越多美国人自杀

BEING depressed is like having a terrible headache, says one Atlanta

businessman. Except that a few days of rest do not stop the pain: “You're

just expected to keep going.” Trying to “man up”, he sought little help

for his condition, choosing to hide it instead. “It all gets so

debilitating that you don't want to go on,” he explains.

亚特兰大的一位商人觉得，压抑苦闷和剧烈头痛一样，这种痛苦休息几天都无法

消失：“你只想坚持下去。”虽然他努力变“man”一点，但却没有想办法解决

问题，反而想藏起来。他解释道，“所有的一切让人筋疲力尽，很想放弃。”

He tried to kill himself more than once; fortunately, his attempts came

to nothing. But the same cannot be said for a growing share of Americans.

The suicide rate has risen from 11 per 100,000 people in 2005 to 13 seven

years later. In the time it takes you to read this article, six Americans

will try to kill themselves; in another ten minutes one will succeed.

他曾不止一次想要自杀;幸运的是，他的尝试都是徒劳的。然而，美国可没有那

么幸运，因为自杀率攀升。自杀率从2005年10万人中的11%增加到2012年的

13%。在你读这篇文章的时间里，6位美国人将会自杀，而且十分钟之后会有一

个人自杀成功。

Over 40,000 Americans took their own lives in 2012—more than died in car

crashes—says the American Association of Suicidology. Mondays in May see

the most incidents. The rates are highest in Wyoming and Montana, perhaps

because guns—which are more effective than pills—are so common there

(see chart). Nationally, guns are used in half of all successful suicides.

据美国自杀协会研究，2012年，在美国自杀人数超过4万，多于死于车祸的人

数。自杀多发在五月的星期一。怀俄明州和蒙大拿州的自 杀人数最多，原因或

许是枪支的普及(开枪自杀比吃药来的快)。全国范围而言，开枪成功自杀的事件

占到所有自杀事件的一半。

What drives people to self-destruction? Those who suffer from depression

are, unsurprisingly, most at risk. The suicide rate also rises when times

are hard. During the Depression it jumped to a record 19 per 100,000. It

grew after the recent financial crisis too. “Even just uncertainty over

employment” makes people worry a lot, notes Yeats Conwell, a psychiatrist

at the University of Rochester Medical Centre.

究竟是什么原因让人自杀?毫无疑问，那些苦闷压抑的人正是自杀高危人群。日

子不好过也会促使人自杀。大萧条时期，自杀率攀升至10万人19%，创历 史新

高。近期金融危机之后，自杀人数也增多。罗切斯特大学医学中心精神病专家叶

芝·康威尔表示，“甚至就业难”也会让人们陷入烦恼中。

The over-75s have historically been most likely to kill themselves,

especially if they are lonely or ill. But now it is the middle-aged who

are most at risk. In 2012 the suicide rate for Americans aged 45-54 was

20 per 100,000—the highest rate of any age group. For those aged 55-64

it was 18; for the over-65s it was 15. The middle years can be stressful,

because that is when people realise that their youthful ambitions will

never be fulfilled.

一般说来，如果75岁以上的人孤苦伶仃、罹患疾病，则很可能自杀。然而，如

今，自杀高危人群则是中年人。2012年，美国45-54岁的自杀率是 10万人20%—

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