Heat Singes the Mind， Not Just the Body

高溫不僅炙烤著身體，也炙烤著心靈

By Apoorva Mandavilli

If you find that the blistering， unrelenting heat is making you anxious and irritable， even depressed， it's not all in your head.

如果你感覺，這沒完沒了的酷暑正讓你變得焦慮、易怒甚至抑郁，這并不是你的幻覺。

As heat waves become more intense， more frequent and longer， it has become increasingly important to address the impact on mental health， scientists say.

科學家們表示，隨著熱浪越來越強勁、頻繁且持久，應對由此產生的精神健康問題，已經變得愈發重要。

“It's really only been over the past five years that there's been a real recognition of the impact，“ said Dr. Joshua Wortzel， chair of the American Psychiatric Association's committee on climate change and mental health， which was set up just two years ago.

“人們真正意識到這種影響，其實也就是過去五年的事。”約書亞·沃策爾（Joshua Wortzel）博士說。他是美國精神醫學會“氣候變化與心理健康”委員會主席，這個委員會也是兩年前才成立的。

High temperatures are strongly associated with an increase in suicides， researchers have found. Heat has been linked to a rise in violent crime and aggression， emergency room visits and hospitalizations for mental disorders such as anxiety， schizophrenia and depression.

研究人員發現，高溫與自殺人數的增加密切相關。高溫還引發了更多暴力犯罪和攻擊行為，也和因精神疾病導致的急診就醫和住院人數增加有關，此類疾病包括焦慮癥、精神分裂癥、抑郁癥等。

Some of these illnesses may have a simple origin: disrupted sleep.

部分精神疾病可能有一個簡單的致病源頭：被擾亂的睡眠。

Scientists have coined the term “climate distress“ to describe a multitude of feelings triggered by the environmental changes appearing around us: anxiety， terror， sadness， shame， guilt.

科學家創造了“氣候困擾”一詞來描述我們周圍出現的、由環境變化引發的多種感受，包括焦慮、恐懼、悲傷、羞恥、內疚。

“It is unfortunately true that this may be the coolest summer for the rest of our lives， which is unsettling to reckon with，“ said Britt Wray， the director of Stanford University's program on climate change and mental health.

“一個很不幸的事實是，這個夏天可能是我們余生中最涼快的一個夏天，面對這一事實令人不安。”斯坦福大學“氣候變化與心理健康”項目負責人布利特·瑞（Britt Wray）說道。