2006年VOA标准英语-Young Mental Health Advocates Hope to Educate C

By Barry Unger
Washington, DC
04 December 2006
 
watch Student Mental Health

College can be a stressful time for many young people. Students are away from home for the first time, and have to deal with increased responsibility, as well as a heavier workload¹. One organization is hoping to educate U.S. students about depression and other mental illnesses, before potential problems overwhelm them. VOA's Crystal Park has this report by Barry Unger.

 
Ross Szabo

Ross Szabo was diagnosed with bipolar disorder² at the age of 16. "At 16 years old, I started going through a lot of symptoms. Not sleeping for four days at a time. Not sleeping for more than an hour a night for two weeks at a time, and not needing sleep," said Szabo. "I was always active. And, my mood would change at the flip³ of a switch. I would start hitting walls, start kicking things, flipping⁴ out on (acting crazy in front of) my parents, flipping out on my friends."

More than 10 years later, he is now an advocate for mental health awareness⁵ and speaks out to high school and college students. But Szabo says he took the long road to get here.

"You always hear [that] the medication and the diagnosis⁶ and the treatment are the most important things. But I really hated myself. The disorder led to a lot of negative feelings and anger, and I really took that out on myself. I really needed to care about myself, before I could deal with the bipolar disorder or anything else," said Szabo.

Szabo is back at his alma mater -- American University in Washington. He is speaking to a new generation of mental health advocates at the annual Active Minds conference.

Active Minds is a non-profit organization that strives to educate college students about mental health issues. Student advocates attend their conference from colleges across the U.S.

Guest speakers included healthcare professionals, lawyers and authors. The conference also featured student-run workshops, focusing on ways to reach out and educate college students.

 
Alison Malmon
Alison Malmon is the founder⁷ and executive director of Active Minds. She started the organization after her brother committed suicide.

"He started experiencing symptoms of a mental health disorder his freshman⁸ year," said Malmon. "But he was scared, ashamed, did not feel comfortable talking to anyone about what he was experiencing or feeling."

Malmon says Active Minds helps to break down the stigmas⁹ surrounding mental health issues that prevented her brother from getting help in time.

"It offers students a venue¹⁰ to express their concerns and stories, the education to know what to say to their friends. That education was never there," said Malmon.

 
Jacob Hanna
Jacob Hanna is one of the leaders of the Active Minds chapter at American University.

"We basically just offer a friendly person to talk to. We would then refer them to the counseling center on campus, or the health and wellness center. Or (we would) just try to help them, by sending them in the right direction, and offering a wall to bounce thoughts and feelings off," said Hanna.

Ross Szabo says college students need to know that receiving a diagnosis of a mental illness is not the end of the world.

"It is a starting point. It is by no means the end. It is going to take a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of effort. Nowhere could anyone ever say these things are fun, quick and easy to do. But, with work, time and effort, they are treatable. They are things you can get through," said Szabo.

The student advocates at Active Minds hope educating and informing their peers about mental health issues will help them better cope with the stress of college life.

1 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

4 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

9 stigmas   

n.耻辱的标记，瑕疵( stigma的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wind may affect the set of fruit by desiccating the stigmas. 风可影响座果，因为风吹干了柱头。 来自辞典例句
• Monterey's transpiration of pistils and stigmas are lowest. Monterey的柱头和雌蕊的失水速率均较低。 来自互联网

10 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。