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Tye points to benzodiazepines, like Klonopin, Xanax and Valium, as a prime example of the pitfalls of this approach. The benzos suppress activity in the fear centers of the brain by downregulating key neurotransmitters, but also suppress them everywhere else. Thus they can cause sedation, locomotor suppression, respiratory suppression and cognitive impairments, among other things.
Tye 指出，苯二氮平类药物，如氯诺平、阿普唑仑和安定，就是这种方法的主要缺陷。苯并二苯醚通过下调关键神经递质来抑制大脑恐惧中枢的活动，但同时也会抑制其他部位的活动。因此，它们会导致镇静、运动抑制、呼吸抑制和认知障碍等。
Despite this critique, Tye is optimistic. Once all of the circuits involved in anxiety and other disorders are identified, she says, the circuit-specific neural machinery can be genetically sequenced to identify unique characteristics. And once that happens, drugs can be developed that are more directed. But it may take five to 10 years for scientists to map out, characterize and sequence the majority of circuits of the brain.
尽管有这些负面信息，Tye 还是很乐观。她说，一旦所有与焦虑和其他疾病有关的回路都被识别出来，就可以对特定回路的神经机制进行基因排序，以识别其独特的特征。但是，科学家可能需要5到10年的时间来绘制、描绘和排列大脑的大部分回路。
Those of us who can't wait that long have some options. In addition to medications like SSRIs and benzodiazepines, psychotherapeutic approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy help patients learn how to identify—and then change—the thoughts that feed negative behaviors and emotions. And there are other remedies that are not necessarily medical, such as exercise, which studies have shown is particularly helpful for anxiety.
我们这些不能等那么久的人有一些选择。除了 SSRIs 和苯二氮卓类药物外，认知行为疗法等心理治疗方法还帮助患者学习如何识别——然后改变——那些助长消极行为和情绪的想法。还有一些不一定是医学上的治疗方法，比如锻炼，研究表明，锻炼对焦虑特别有帮助。
Ironically, many clinicians say one of the most exciting trends in mental health in recent years is the rise in the use of a technique that is thousands of years old and actually predates many of the current treatments: mindfulness. Using techniques that help patients to focus on the present moment can often serve as a potent tool to help them manage overwhelming fears about the future.
具有讽刺意味的是，许多临床医生表示，近年来心理健康领域最令人兴奋的趋势之一，是一种已有数千年历史、实际上比当前许多疗法更早出现的技术——正念。使用帮助病人关注当下的技术，往往可以成为帮助他们克服对未来的极度恐惧的有力工具。
"Uncertainty is absolutely central to anxiety," says Jack Nitschke, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin and a practicing psychotherapist. "Anxiety is about being concerned about something that might happen in the future." Often, this worry turns out to be impractical and a waste of time—nine in 10 things people most frequently worry about never come to pass.
“不确定性绝对是焦虑的核心，” 威斯康星大学心理学教授、执业心理治疗师 Jack Nitschke 说。“焦虑是指担心将来可能发生的事情。”通常，这种担心是不切实际的，是在浪费时间——人们最担心的十件事中有九件是永远不会实现的。
"If we're living in some sort of future, what-if scenario about something bad that might happen, if we can realize that we're off there and actually I'm sitting in a chair in a room, here many days in advance of this future event that I'm imagining, that point right there is a kind of mindfulness," Nitschke explains. "We've just gotten back into the present moment, realizing where we were and seeing where our mind has gone. And that can indeed be helpful for people with worries."
“如果我们生活在某种未来，假设会有坏事发生，如果我们能意识到我们已经离开了那里，而实际上我正坐在房间里的椅子上，在我想象的未来事件发生的许多天之前，这里有一种正念，” Nitschke 解释说。“我们刚刚回到当下，意识到我们在哪里，看到我们的思想去了哪里。这确实对那些有忧虑的人有帮助。”
It makes an odd sort of sense that the most promising technique in a time of technological-influenced advances in brain science dates back thousands of years, especially considering the technologies that bombard us with information and take us out of the present.
在科技影响脑科学进步的时代，最有前途的技术可以追溯到几千年前，这有点奇怪，尤其是考虑到那些用信息轰炸我们、让我们脱离现实的技术。
So if you're feeling anxious, perhaps there is something you can do while you're waiting for science to come up with the next great pill to help you relax: Put down your cell phone, turn off the cable news and try to be present in the moment. Listen to the sounds around you. Take a walk with a loved one and feel the sun on your face. Above all, don't look at social media or read the news. Except perhaps Newsweek, of course.
所以，如果你感到焦虑，也许你可以做点什么，在你等待科学发现下一个伟大的药丸来帮助你放松的时候：放下你的手机，关掉有线电视新闻，试着活在当下。倾听你周围的声音。和你爱的人一起散步，感受阳光洒在脸上的感觉。最重要的是，不要看社交媒体或读新闻。当然，除了《新闻周刊》。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
