第1603期:What makes us afraid?

What are the things that scare you: snakes, spiders or creepy crawlies? Or maybe you have a fear of heights or visiting the dentist. Although some of us just get scared or a bit nervous about these things, for others it can cause an irrational reaction that can’t be controlled – something we call a phobia. It occurs when someone develops an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object.什么是让你害怕的东西：蛇、蜘蛛或令人毛骨悚然的爬行动物？或者，也许你有恐高症或去看牙医。虽然我们中的一些人只是对这些事情感到害怕或有点紧张，但对其他人来说，它可能会导致无法控制的非理性反应——我们称之为恐惧症。当某人对某种情况或物体产生一种夸大或不切实际的危险感时，就会发生这种情况。Sometimes it’s good to be aware of the possible dangers from things. Our brain alerts us to the risks that might lie ahead, but then we often rationalise the risks and overcome them. Clinical psychologist Warren Mansell told the BBC: “Our fears are hard-wired into our brains – we don’t need to learn to be afraid of animals like snakes or spiders.” But phobias are stronger than just fears. Warren says: “An area called the amygdala in the brain is recognising a threat and preparing your body for fight or flight.” With a phobia, your breathing gets quicker, your pulse speeds up, you sweat, there’s more glucose in your blood, increasing your energy, and your brain is unable to control these reactions.有时，了解事物可能带来的危险是件好事。我们的大脑提醒我们注意可能存在的风险，但随后我们经常将风险合理化并克服它们。临床心理学家沃伦·曼塞尔告诉 BBC：“我们的恐惧根深蒂固，我们不需要学会害怕像蛇或蜘蛛这样的动物。”但恐惧症比恐惧更强烈。沃伦说：“大脑中一个叫做杏仁核的区域正在识别威胁并让你的身体为战斗或逃跑做好准备。”患有恐惧症时，你的呼吸变得更快，你的脉搏加快，你出汗，你的血液中含有更多的葡萄糖，增加了你的能量，你的大脑无法控制这些反应。But where does a phobia come from? Speaking to the BBC, Lauren Rosenberg, a fear and phobia expert, says: “Phobias usually are a copy behaviour from a higher authority, like a parent or teacher, or something you have learnt from your own experience.” Or a trauma from a past event that comes back to haunt you.但是恐惧症从何而来？恐惧和恐惧症专家劳伦·罗森伯格在接受 BBC 采访时说：“恐惧症通常是来自更高权威的复制行为，比如父母或老师，或者你从自己的经历中学到的东西。”或者来自过去事件的创伤再次困扰着你。There are many different complex phobias some people suffer from, such as agoraphobia – triggered by being away from home, social anxiety disorder – feeling anxious in social situations, and iatrophobia – fear of doctors. But how can they be overcome? Cognitive behavioural therapy is one option, where you gradually get used to whatever it is you fear. Lauren Rosenburg says she likes to work with people to clear their subconscious memory and help them breathe. But if you do have a phobia, continually trying to avoid what you’re afraid of is likely to make the situation worse, so it’s a good idea to find help to overcome it.有些人患有许多不同的复杂恐惧症，例如广场恐惧症 - 由远离家乡引发，社交焦虑症 - 在社交场合感到焦虑，以及 iatrophobia - 对医生的恐惧。但是如何才能克服呢？认知行为疗法是一种选择，在这种疗法中，您会逐渐习惯于恐惧的一切。 Lauren Rosenburg 说她喜欢与人们合作以清除他们的潜意识记忆并帮助他们呼吸。但如果你确实有恐惧症，不断地试图避免你害怕的事情可能会使情况变得更糟，所以寻求帮助来克服它是个好主意。词汇表scare （使）害怕a fear of 对…害怕irrational 不理智的，荒唐的sense of danger 危机感rationalise 合理地解释overcome 克服，战胜hard-wired 根植于，天生的amygdala 杏仁核（产生、识别、调节情绪的脑部组织）threat 威胁，恐吓fight or flight 战斗或逃跑，或战或退breathing 呼吸pulse 脉搏sweat 出汗，流汗trauma 精神或心理创伤haunt 长期困扰，（使）经常苦恼agoraphobia 恐旷症trigger 引起，引发（坏事）social anxiety disorder 社交焦虑症，社交焦虑障碍iatrophobia 医生恐惧症cognitive behavioural therap