There's no shame in taking care of your mental health | Sangu Delle

翻译人员: Xiaoyu Ye 校对人员: Linda Sheu

Last year ...

过去的一年……

was hell.

简直糟糕透了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It was my first time eating Nigerian "jollof."

我第一次尝试了尼日利亚的“辣椒鱼肉饭”。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Actually, in all seriousness,

不过说正经的，

I was going through a lot of personal turmoil.

那时的我正经历着一系列个人危机。

Faced with enormous stress,

面临巨大的压力，

I suffered an anxiety attack.

我经常会焦虑发作。

On some days, I could do no work.

有的时候我甚至什么都做不了。

On other days,

有的时候，

I just wanted to lay in my bed and cry.

我只想躺在床上哭。

My doctor asked if I'd like to speak with a mental health professional

医生建议我和一名心理健康专家谈谈，

about my stress and anxiety.

聊一聊我的压力和焦虑。

Mental health?

心理健康？

I clammed up and violently shook my head in protest.

我赌气地不说话，拼命摇头表示抗议。

I felt a profound sense of a shame.

我感觉特别的羞耻。

I felt the weight of stigma.

简直无地自容。

I have a loving, supportive family

我有一个温馨互助的家庭，

and incredibly loyal friends,

极其忠诚的朋友，

yet I could not entertain the idea of speaking to anyone

但我居然无法接受这种想法，

about my feeling of pain.

不愿和朋友聊聊我的痛苦。

I felt suffocated by the rigid architecture

我好像被所谓非洲男子

of our African masculinity.

"刚毅的气概"死死扼住了喉咙。

"People have real problems, Sangu.

“人们都会遇到各种问题，桑谷。

Get over yourself!"

别再硬撑了。”

The first time I heard "mental health,"

我第一次听到“心理健康”这个词的时候，

I was a boarding school student fresh off the boat from Ghana,

刚刚从加纳坐船来，成为新泽西州佩迪中学的

at the Peddie School in New Jersey.

一名寄宿学生。

I had just gone through the brutal experience

我刚刚历经了惨痛的悲剧，

of losing seven loved ones in the same month.

一个月内失去了七名挚爱之人。

The school nurse,

当时的校医

concerned about what I'd gone through -- God bless her soul --

很关心我的经历——愿上帝保佑她——

she inquired about my mental health.

她仔细地询问了我的心理状况。

"Is she mental?" I thought.

“她是不是脑子不好？”我暗想。

Does she not know I'm an African man?

“她难道不知道我是非洲男人？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Like Okonkwo in "Things Fall Apart,"

就像《解体》的主人公奥贡喀沃，

we African men neither process nor express our emotions.

我们非洲男人不在乎， 也不会倾诉自己的心情。

We deal with our problems.

我们只解决问题。

(Applause)

（掌声）

We deal with our problems.

我们解决问题。

I called my brother and laughed about "Oyibo" people -- white people --

于是我叫来了哥哥，嘲笑了一番 奥伊博人——就是白人——

and their strange diseases --

以及他们奇奇怪怪的毛病——

depression, ADD and those "weird things."

抑郁，注意力缺失症，以及各种“奇怪的症状”。

Growing up in West Africa,

我从小在西非长大，

when people used the term "mental," what came to mind was a madman

当人们使用“mental”这个词时， 大多数指的是疯子，

with dirty, dread-locked hair,

发辫很脏，

bumbling around half-naked on the streets.

半裸着在街上闲晃，步履蹒跚。

We all know this man.

我们都知道这样的人。

Our parents warned us about him.

我们的父母曾警告我们远离他们。

"Mommy, mommy, why is he mad?"

“妈妈，为什么他疯了？”

"Drugs!

“嗑药！

If you even look at drugs, you end up like him."

“哪怕你只瞥一眼毒品，你也会和他一样。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Come down with pneumonia,

如果你得了肺炎，

and your mother will rush you to the nearest hospital

妈妈会带你冲向最近的医院

for medical treatment.

接受治疗。

But dare to declare depression,

但如果你敢说有抑郁症，

and your local pastor will be driving out demons

当地的牧师就会赶来

and blaming witches in your village.

在你们村子大兴法事、除妖降魔。

According to the World Health Organization,

根据世界卫生组织的说法，

mental health is about being able to cope

心理健康指的是能从容应对

with the normal stressors of life;

日常生活中的压力，

to work productively and fruitfully;

高效、有成果地工作；

and to be able to make a contribution to your community.

可以为社区做出贡献。

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being.

心理健康是指情绪、心理和 社会关系上的良好状态。

Globally, 75 percent of all mental illness cases

全球约75%的精神疾病

can be found in low-income countries.

都发生在低收入国家。

Yet most African governments

然而绝大多数非洲政府

invest less than one percent of their health care budget

在投给卫生保健的预算中，只有不到1%

in mental health.

分配给了心理健康。

Even worse,

更糟糕的是，

we have a severe shortage of psychiatrists in Africa.

非洲的心理医生极其短缺。

Nigeria, for example, is estimated to have 200 --

以尼日利亚为例， 全国大概只有200名心理医生，

in a country of almost 200 million.

但却有2亿人口。

In all of Africa,

非洲所有国家中，

90 percent of our people lack access to treatment.

90%的人缺少寻求心理治疗的途径。

As a result,

结果，

we suffer in solitude,

我们只能孤独地承受着，

silenced by stigma.

因感到耻辱而沉默不语。

We as Africans often respond to mental health with distance,

我们非洲人对待心理健康的 态度常常是避讳，

ignorance,

无视，

guilt,

内疚，

fear

害怕，

and anger.

有时还有愤怒。

In a study conducted by Arboleda-Flórez,

根据阿尔博莱达-弗洛雷斯的一项调查，

directly asking, "What is the cause of mental illness?"

当问到“心理疾病的成因是什么”，

34 percent of Nigerian respondents cited drug misuse;

34%的尼日利亚受访者表示是药物滥用；

19 percent said divine wrath and the will of God --

19%认为是神的愤怒和旨意——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

12 percent,

12%认为

witchcraft and spiritual possession.

是巫术附身。

But few cited other known causes of mental illness,

但是极少有人提到一些 已知的心理疾病的成因，

like genetics,

如遗传原因，

socioeconomic status,

社会经济地位，

war,

战争，

conflict

冲突，

or the loss of a loved one.

或者失去心爱的人。

The stigmatization against mental illness

对心理疾病的污名化

often results in the ostracizing and demonizing of sufferers.

常常导致人们对患者的排斥和妖魔化。

Photojournalist Robin Hammond has documented some of these abuses ...

摄影记者罗宾 · 哈蒙德 记录了一些这样的场景，

in Uganda,

在乌干达，

in Somalia,

索马里，

and here in Nigeria.

以及尼日利亚。

For me,

对我来说，

the stigma is personal.

这种耻辱深刻的影响了我。

In 2009,

2009年，

I received a frantic call in the middle of the night.

我在半夜接到了 一个令人惶恐的电话。

My best friend in the world --

我世界上最好的朋友——

a brilliant, philosophical, charming, hip young man --

一个睿智、深沉、迷人、时尚的小伙子——

was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

被诊断为精神分裂症。

I witnessed some of the friends we'd grown up with recoil.

我看到那些曾经朝夕相处的发小们开始躲闪。

I heard the snickers.

我听见了笑声。

I heard the whispers.

我听见了窃窃私语。

"Did you hear he has gone mad?"

“你听说他疯了吗？”

(Kru English) "He has gone crazy!"

“他一定是脑子坏了！”

Derogatory, demeaning commentary about his condition --

各种关于他情况的难听的议论

words we would never say about someone with cancer

——那些我们从不会对癌症患者

or someone with malaria.

或者疟疾患者说的话。

Somehow, when it comes to mental illness,

不知怎的，当我们说起心理疾病时，

our ignorance eviscerates all empathy.

我们的无知抹去了所有的同情心。

I stood by his side as his community isolated him,

尽管他的社区孤立了他， 但我仍然站在了他那边，

but our love never wavered.

我们的心从未动摇。

Tacitly, I became passionate about mental health.

渐渐地，我开始关注心理健康。

Inspired by his plight,

受到他窘境的启发，

I helped found the mental health special interest alumni group

我帮助自己所在的大学创立了

at my college.

心理健康特别兴趣校友团。

And during my tenure as a resident tutor in graduate school,

在我担任研究生常驻导师的期间，

I supported many undergraduates with their mental health challenges.

我帮助了许多本科学生 渡过心理层面的难关。

I saw African students struggle

我曾遇到过非洲学生忍受着内心的挣扎，

and unable to speak to anyone.

却拒绝同任何人交流。

Even with this knowledge and with their stories in tow,

即使我已经有了一些认知 并了解了他们的故事，

I, in turn, struggled,

我反而也开始挣扎了，

and could not speak to anyone when I faced my own anxiety,

面对自己的焦虑时，同样地也拒绝交流。

so deep is our fear of being the madman.

我们太害怕成为疯子了。

All of us --

我们所有人——

but we Africans especially --

不仅仅是我们非洲人——

need to realize that our mental struggles do not detract from our virility,

需要认识到，心理斗争 并不会削弱我们的力量，

nor does our trauma taint our strength.

心理创伤也不会消磨我们的意志。

We need to see mental health as important as physical health.

我们要对心理健康和 身体健康一视同仁。

We need to stop suffering in silence.

我们再不应该在沉默中受苦。

We must stop stigmatizing disease

我们必须停止歧视心理疾病，

and traumatizing the afflicted.

停止伤害已经饱受折磨的人。

Talk to your friends.

请告诉你的朋友。

Talk to your loved ones.

告诉你爱的人。

Talk to health professionals.

去和健康专家谈谈。

Be vulnerable.

做个不那么坚强的人，

Do so with the confidence

并且相信，

that you are not alone.

你并不孤单。

Speak up if you're struggling.

大胆说出你内心的挣扎。

Being honest about how we feel

直面内心的感受

does not make us weak;

并不会使我们变得虚弱；

it makes us human.

反而会使我们成为一个完整的人。

It is time to end the stigma associated with mental illness.

是时候停止对心理疾病的污名化了。

So the next time your hear "mental,"

当你下次听到“心理”这个词，

do not just think of the madman.

不要仅仅想到那个疯子，

Think of me.

也想想我吧。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）