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A disturbing trend on the rise
令人不安的趨勢方興未艾
By Jamie Ducharme
文/杰米·杜沙姆
THE APPARENT SUICIDE OF DESIGNER Kate Spade on June 5 did more than shock and sadden her fans across the country.
6月5日，設計師凱特·斯佩德的自殺不止震驚了全國各地的粉絲，令他們陷入了巨大的悲痛。
It also reignited a conversation about the many faces—and causes—of suicide.
也再次引發了一場關于自殺的多面性——及其原因——的探討。
The circumstances around Spade’s death remain unclear,
斯佩德之死的具體情況尚不清楚，
but the tragedy underscores a disturbing reality in the U.S.
但斯佩德的悲劇凸顯了一個令人不安的現實問題：
Suicide is a growing public-health problem that doesn’t discriminate on the basis of demographics.
自殺已經成為一個日益嚴重的公共健康問題，它不會因為人口特征而有所區別。
“This is not a condition that is related to success or failure,”
“自殺它跟成功與失敗無關，”
says Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
美國疾病控制和預防中心(CDC)的首席副總監安妮·舒查特博士說道。
“No one is immune.”
“自殺面前，誰都沒有免疫力?！?/div>
Federal data shows that suicide rates have increased steadily across nearly every demographic over the past two decades, rising by 28% from1999 to 2016.
聯邦數據顯示，過去20年里，幾乎所有人群的自殺率都在穩步上升，從1999年到2016年上升了28%。
Almost 45,000 Americans died by suicide in ’16, making it the 10th most common cause of death that year, according to the CDC.
CDC的數據顯示，2016年有近4.5萬名美國人死于自殺，自殺也因此成為了當年最常見死因中的第十大死因。
Increases have been so drastic that researchers have blamed suicide, along with substance abuse,
發表在最近一期《英國醫學雜志》(BMJ)上的一篇社論指出，由于自殺率上升太快，
for recent declines in overall U.S life expectancy, according to an editorial published in a recent issue of the BMJ.
研究員們紛紛將近來美國整體預期壽命的縮短歸結到了自殺和藥物濫用問題上。
While suicide is most common among middle-aged and older adults, rates are on the rise in many age groups.
盡管自殺在中老年人群中最為常見，但多個年齡段的自殺率都在上升。
Almost twice as many children were hospitalized for thinking about or attempting suicide in 2015 as in ’08, according to a study published in May in the journal Pediatrics.
《兒科學》5月份發表的一項研究顯示，相比2008年，2015年因有過自殺念頭或試圖自殺而住院的兒童數量幾乎翻了一倍。
Young women appear to be disproportionately affected by the overall increase.
受自殺率整體上漲影響最大的似乎是年輕女性。
The suicide rate among girls ages 10 to 19 rose by 70% from 2010 to ’16—from 423 deaths to 687—
美國疾病控制與預防中心(CDC)的數據顯示，2010至2016年間，10~19歲女孩的自殺率上漲了70%——
and it hit a 40-year high among female teens in ’15, according to CDC data.
從423人上升至687人，2015年，該年齡段女孩的自殺率達到了40年來的最高水平。
This increase has been substantial enough to narrow the well-established gender gap between the numbers of boys and girls who die by suicide.
長期以來，男孩和女孩自殺人數上一直存在明顯的性別差異，然而，這一增長已經足以縮小這一差異。
LOOKING BEYOND THE FIGURES, the questions they raise—why is this trend happening, and why now?—are complicated.
除了這些數字，他們提出的問題——為什么會出現這種趨勢？為什么偏偏現在出現這種趨勢？——也都很復雜。
Pressing public-health issues, such as the opioid crisis and rising rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness,
舒查特表示，自殺率的上升或許跟阿片類藥物危機，人們罹患抑郁、焦慮和孤獨等病癥的比例均在上升，
are likely related to the increase in suicides, Schuchat says.
諸如此類亟待解決的公共衛生問題有關。
And research suggests that high-profile suicides like Spade’s can spur “suicide contagion,” a known public-health issue.
研究表明，斯佩德這樣轟動的自殺事件會引發“自殺傳染效應”，該效應已經構成了一個眾所周知的公共健康問題。
In the months following actor Robin Williams’ highly publicized death by suicide in 2014, there was a 10% spike in suicides nationwide,
2014年，媒體對演員羅賓·威廉姆斯的自殺進行了廣泛的報道，在其離世后的幾個月里，全美自殺率飆升了10%。
according to a study published in February in the journal PLOS One.
《公共科學圖書館綜合》雜志今年2月發表的一項研究顯示。
Upticks in suicide have also historically coincided with economic turmoil, Schuchat says,
舒克特還表示，從歷史上來看，自殺率的上升與經濟動蕩存在同步關系。
so the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath may have influenced suicides in recent years.
由此來看，08年的金融危機及其后果可能在一定程度上推動了近年來的自殺事件。
At the individual level, however, there is almost never a single cause of suicide.
然而，從個人層面來看，自殺的原因都不止一個。
“Multiple factors are often involved,” Schuchat says.
“涉及的因素通常都有好幾個，”舒查特說。
Addressing and treating mental-health issues are an important part of suicide prevention,
處理和治療心理健康問題是預防自殺的重要內涵，
but social connectedness and support from friends, family, communities and institutions may also help people who are struggling for any reason.
不過，與外界的聯系和來自朋友、家人、社區和機構的支持或許也能幫助到那些受自殺念頭困擾——無論出于何種理由——的人群。
“We need to be more connected and there for each other,” Schuchat says.
“我們需要加強和這些人群的聯系，及時伸出援手，”舒查特說。
“(Suicide is) widespread enough, and so, so difficult for those left behind, that we really want to do all we can.”
“(自殺)真的非常非常普遍，那些留守在家的人群更是受到了莫大的困擾，所以，我們真的想盡我們的一切所能來改善這一問題?！?/p>
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