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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，苯二氮平類藥物，如氯諾平、阿普唑侖和安定，就是這種方法的主要缺陷。苯并二苯醚通過下調關鍵神經遞質來抑制大腦恐懼中樞的活動，但同時也會抑制其他部位的活動。因此，它們會導致鎮靜、運動抑制、呼吸抑制和認知障礙等。
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.
盡管有這些負面信息，Tye 還是很樂觀。她說，一旦所有與焦慮和其他疾病有關的回路都被識別出來，就可以對特定回路的神經機制進行基因排序，以識別其獨特的特征。但是，科學家可能需要5到10年的時間來繪制、描繪和排列大腦的大部分回路。
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.
我們這些不能等那么久的人有一些選擇。除了 SSRIs 和苯二氮卓類藥物外，認知行為療法等心理治療方法還幫助患者學習如何識別——然后改變——那些助長消極行為和情緒的想法。還有一些不一定是醫學上的治療方法，比如鍛煉，研究表明，鍛煉對焦慮特別有幫助。
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.
具有諷刺意味的是，許多臨床醫生表示，近年來心理健康領域最令人興奮的趨勢之一，是一種已有數千年歷史、實際上比當前許多療法更早出現的技術——正念。使用幫助病人關注當下的技術，往往可以成為幫助他們克服對未來的極度恐懼的有力工具。
"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.
“不確定性絕對是焦慮的核心，” 威斯康星大學心理學教授、執業心理治療師 Jack Nitschke 說。“焦慮是指擔心將來可能發生的事情。”通常，這種擔心是不切實際的，是在浪費時間——人們最擔心的十件事中有九件是永遠不會實現的。
"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."
“如果我們生活在某種未來，假設會有壞事發生，如果我們能意識到我們已經離開了那里，而實際上我正坐在房間里的椅子上，在我想象的未來事件發生的許多天之前，這里有一種正念，” Nitschke 解釋說。“我們剛剛回到當下，意識到我們在哪里，看到我們的思想去了哪里。這確實對那些有憂慮的人有幫助。”
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.
在科技影響腦科學進步的時代，最有前途的技術可以追溯到幾千年前，這有點奇怪，尤其是考慮到那些用信息轟炸我們、讓我們脫離現實的技術。
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，如果你感到焦慮，也許你可以做點什么，在你等待科學發現下一個偉大的藥丸來幫助你放松的時候：放下你的手機，關掉有線電視新聞，試著活在當下。傾聽你周圍的聲音。和你愛的人一起散步，感受陽光灑在臉上的感覺。最重要的是，不要看社交媒體或讀新聞。當然，除了《新聞周刊》。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
