2006年VOA标准英语-Post-Traumatic Stress: Living In a War Zon

By Melinda Smith
Washington, DC
07 March 2006
 
view PostTraumatic report

The headlines from Iraq are filled almost daily with stories of average people caught in the crossfire¹ between insurgents² and coalition³ forces.  The stress of living in a war zone takes an emotional toll⁴.  But so do other life-threatening experiences: living through a natural disaster, being the victim of a crime or even sustaining injury in a serious accident. 
Today, doctors describe this condition as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder⁵ and as VOA's Melinda Smith explains, it can happen to anyone, anywhere.

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US Soldier Salute  
  

Soldiers know this condition all too well.  In earlier wars, it was called "Shell Shock" or "Combat Fatigue⁶."  The term "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder" was used to describe the psychological effects on Vietnam veterans after they came home.

Since the 1980s it has been more widely defined to include reaction to other disasters. Listen to the symptoms expressed by this New York City resident after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001:

 
Post-traumatic stress causes this woman to fear tunnels
  
"I'm having a fear of going into any tunnel right now … 'cause I'm thinking it's gonna explode.  I've been having nightmares," said one fearful woman of her difficulties.

Because of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories, young people there commonly suffer from post-traumatic stress. 

Tanya Weiz was wounded during a suicide-bombing of a Tel Aviv nightclub:

Tanya Weiz   
  
"It's the hardest thing for me and it's been a year, but I still look back at it.  I still think about it every day.  There isn't one second that goes by that I don't think about it."

Ten years after the sarin gas terrorist attack in a Tokyo subway, this man still carries psychological scars: "I have been diagnosed with what my doctor calls an anniversary syndrome⁷.  Every year at this time of year I start having various symptoms."

Dr. Robert Ursano heads the psychiatry⁸ department of the medical school which trains U.S military and public health doctors.  

Dr. Robert Ursano  
  
He says there's a difference between the war-time experience of a soldier or hostage versus⁹ that of a civilian¹⁰ in a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina.

"If you've been exposed to a life-threatening event at any time in your life, you may well develop post-traumatic disorder.  Most people recover from it.  But some will not.

Soldiers, whether they're at the front line or back line, are exposed to ongoing¹¹ threat ... ongoing experiences of worrying about their life and the lives of friends," he continued. "Remember that post-traumatic stress disorder is only one problem and not the most important one for Katrina.  Probably issues of depression because of the degree of loss that people experienced ... Stay alert to issues of substance abuse ... alcohol withdrawal¹², substance withdrawal for those who may have been using substances before and might not now be able to have those."

Reestablishing a sense of community and making sure children are back in school are also important. Refugees -- especially women -- are particularly vulnerable to post-traumatic stress.  Studies have shown that women are twice as likely to suffer than men.  

 
This Darfur woman barely escaped murder by a militia¹³ group
  
In Sudan's western Darfur region, one woman describes how the Janjaweed militia stole her cattle, murdered her husband and brother: “I just escaped with the clothes on my back."

Large populations are displaced by natural disasters.  Here are three dramatic examples:

Hurricane Katrina along the American Gulf¹⁴ coast in August 2005
The tsunami¹⁵ that swept thousands out to sea along the Indonesian coast
The earthquake in Pakistan on October 8, 2005 which killed 87,000 people and left millions without homes. 
It could be days or weeks before relief workers can address post-traumatic stress.  Dr. Ursano says elected officials can help in the healing by recognizing when its time to give up looking for survivors¹⁶ and begin to mourn the dead.

"That's a critical decision to be made by leadership," he says. "It really leads the community to a very different way of thinking about what's occurred."

 
Post-traumatic stress
  
There are common symptoms that can be recognized even without a professional diagnosis¹⁷:

Psychiatrists¹⁸ describe "intrusive¹⁹ thoughts" … that is, being mentally being led back to the traumatic event even when you don't want to think about it … feeling jumpy … or having difficulty sleeping.  If these symptoms persist over a period of time, it could be post-traumatic stress. 

1 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

2 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 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。

6 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

7 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

8 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

9 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

10 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

13 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

15 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

16 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

17 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。

18 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

19 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。