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

譯者: Gang Hu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

Last year ...

去年

was hell.

糟透了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It was my first time eating Nigerian "jollof."

我第一次品嘗了 奈及利亞的辣味大鍋飯。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Actually, in all seriousness,

實際上，嚴肅地說，

I was going through a lot of personal turmoil.

我經歷了太多的個人的困境。

Faced with enormous stress,

面對大量的壓力，

I suffered an anxiety attack.

我感覺很焦慮。

On some days, I could do no work.

有時候，我無法工作。

On other days,

有時候，

I just wanted to lay in my bed and cry.

我甚至只想躺在床上哭泣。

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

我的醫生問我是否願意 見一下心理健康專家，

about my stress and anxiety.

談談我的壓力和焦慮。

Mental health?

心理健康？

I clammed up and violently shook my head in protest.

我閉上嘴，瘋狂地搖頭以示抗議。

I felt a profound sense of a shame.

一股深深的羞恥感襲上心頭。

I felt the weight of stigma.

沉重的羞恥。

I have a loving, supportive family

我有一個充滿愛和支持的家庭，

and incredibly loyal friends,

我有一群無比忠誠的朋友，

yet I could not entertain the idea of speaking to anyone

然而我不能接受這樣的想法：

about my feeling of pain.

與別人談談我痛苦的情感。

I felt suffocated by the rigid architecture

我們非洲對於男子氣概嚴格的觀點

of our African masculinity.

都要讓我窒息了。

"People have real problems, Sangu.

「人們都有現實的問題，桑谷，

Get over yourself!"

你得戰勝自己！」

The first time I heard "mental health,"

我第一次聽說「心理健康」時，

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

我還是來自迦納的一名寄宿新生，

at the Peddie School in New Jersey.

就讀於紐澤西州的佩蒂中學。

I had just gone through the brutal experience

我剛剛經歷了一個月內失去

of losing seven loved ones in the same month.

7 個親人的殘酷事實。

The school nurse,

學校的護士

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

關心我的經歷──上帝保佑她──

she inquired about my mental health.

她詢問我的心理健康狀況。

"Is she mental?" I thought.

「她心理不正常嗎？」我想。

Does she not know I'm an African man?

她不知道我是非洲男人嗎？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Like Okonkwo in "Things Fall Apart,"

就像《生命中不可承受之重》 裡的奧康渥，

we African men neither process nor express our emotions.

我們非洲男人既不處理 也不表達自己的感情。

We deal with our problems.

我們解決自己的問題。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

We deal with our problems.

我們解決自己的問題。

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

我打電話給我的哥哥，嘲笑白人，

and their strange diseases --

和他們奇怪的疾病，

depression, ADD and those "weird things."

比如憂鬱症、注意力缺乏症候群 這些奇怪的東西。

Growing up in West Africa,

身為在西非長大的人，

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

提到「心理」這個名詞時， 進入腦海的是一個瘋子，

with dirty, dread-locked hair,

頂著看起來髒兮兮的「髒辮頭」，

半裸著身體在街上搖搖晃晃。

bumbling around half-naked on the streets.

We all know this man.

我們都認識這個人。

Our parents warned us about him.

我們的父母用他來警告過我們。

"Mommy, mommy, why is he mad?"

「媽媽，媽媽，他為什麼瘋了？」

"Drugs!

「毒品！

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

就算你只看了一眼毒品， 下場也會和他一樣。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Come down with pneumonia,

如果得了肺炎，

and your mother will rush you to the nearest hospital

媽媽會帶你到最近的醫院治療。

for medical treatment.

But dare to declare depression,

但是，如果聲稱得了憂鬱症，

and your local pastor will be driving out demons

當地的牧師將會驅趕惡魔，

and blaming witches in your village.

並且責備村子裡的女巫。

According to the World Health Organization,

根據世界衛生組織，

mental health is about being able to cope

心理健康是指能夠處理

with the normal stressors of life;

生活中的正常壓力的能力；

to work productively and fruitfully;

高效流暢地工作；

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

能對社區做出貢獻。

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

心理健康包涵我們的情感、 心理和社會福祉。

Globally, 75 percent of all mental illness cases

全球所有心理疾病案例中的 75%

can be found in low-income countries.

都能在低收入國家中發現。

Yet most African governments

但是絕大多數非洲政府

invest less than one percent of their health care budget

僅將其健康預算中不到 1% 的錢

in mental health.

投入到心理健康。

Even worse,

更糟糕的是，

we have a severe shortage of psychiatrists in Africa.

非洲的精神病醫生嚴重短缺。

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

比如，奈及利亞， 一個兩億人口的國家，

in a country of almost 200 million.

只有 200 名精神病醫生。

In all of Africa,

整個非洲，

90 percent of our people lack access to treatment.

90% 的人缺乏治療。

As a result,

結果是，

we suffer in solitude,

我們孤獨地忍受著，

silenced by stigma.

羞恥地沉默著。

We as Africans often respond to mental health with distance,

我們非洲人對心理健康的 回應是距離、

ignorance,

無知、

guilt,

內疚、

fear

恐懼

and anger.

和憤怒。

In a study conducted by Arboleda-Flórez,

在阿爾博萊達德—弗洛雷斯 指導的一項研究中，

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

他直接問道： 「心理疾病的起因是什麼？」

34 percent of Nigerian respondents cited drug misuse;

34% 的奈及利亞人 認為是濫用毒品；

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

19% 的人歸因於 神的憤怒和上帝的旨意。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

12 percent,

12% 的人則認為是

witchcraft and spiritual possession.

巫術和邪靈附身。

But few cited other known causes of mental illness,

但很少有人舉出 已知的精神疾病成因。

like genetics,

例如遺傳、

socioeconomic status,

社會經濟狀況、

war,

戰爭、

conflict

衝突，

or the loss of a loved one.

或者失去親人。

The stigmatization against mental illness

對心理疾病的污名化

often results in the ostracizing and demonizing of sufferers.

常常導致對患者的排斥和妖魔化。

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

攝影記者羅賓哈蒙德 已經記錄下了這些行為。

in Uganda,

在烏干達，

in Somalia,

在索馬里，

and here in Nigeria.

以及這裡，奈及利亞。

For me,

對我而言，

the stigma is personal.

汙名化是親身的經歷。

In 2009,

在 2009年，

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

半夜我接到了一通瘋狂的電話，

My best friend in the world --

我最好的朋友，

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

一個才華橫溢、明哲、 迷人、時髦的小伙子，

was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

被診斷為精神分裂症。

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

我親眼目睹了一些 一起長大的朋友的做法。

I heard the snickers.

我聽到了竊笑。

I heard the whispers.

我聽到了竊竊私語。

"Did you hear he has gone mad?"

「你聽說他瘋了的事嗎？」

(Kru English) "He has gone crazy!"

「他開始發飆了！」

Derogatory, demeaning commentary about his condition --

關於他的狀況的 那些貶低、貶損的評論，

那些詞，從來不會 用於某個患了癌症的人，

words we would never say about someone with cancer

或者某個得了痢疾的人。

or someone with malaria.

Somehow, when it comes to mental illness,

不知什麼原因，一談到心理疾病，

our ignorance eviscerates all empathy.

我們的無知就將 所有的同情剔除乾淨。

I stood by his side as his community isolated him,

當他被社區隔離時， 我站在他的旁邊，

but our love never wavered.

但我們的愛從未動搖。

Tacitly, I became passionate about mental health.

默默地，我開始關注心理健康。

Inspired by his plight,

受到他的困境的啟發，

I helped found the mental health special interest alumni group

我在學校發現了一個心理健康

at my college.

特別興趣校友小組。

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

在我擔任研究生宿舍導師期間，

I supported many undergraduates with their mental health challenges.

我幫助了很多面臨 心理健康調整的大學生。

I saw African students struggle

我發現非洲學生在掙扎，

and unable to speak to anyone.

無法跟任何人溝通 。

Even with this knowledge and with their stories in tow,

即使帶著這些知識和他們的故事，

I, in turn, struggled,

在面對我自己的焦慮時，

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

我反而也在掙扎， 並且無法跟任何人溝通。

so deep is our fear of being the madman.

所以深層次的原因 是我們害怕成為瘋子。

All of us --

我們所有人──

but we Africans especially --

特別是非洲人──

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

要意識到我們的心理掙扎 並不會減損我們的力量，

nor does our trauma taint our strength.

心理創傷也不會腐蝕我們的力量。

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

我們要意識到心理健康 和身體健康一樣重要。

We need to stop suffering in silence.

不要在沉默中忍受。

We must stop stigmatizing disease

我們必須停止汙名化疾病，

and traumatizing the afflicted.

停止傷害患者。

Talk to your friends.

和你的朋友談談，

Talk to your loved ones.

和你的親人談談，

Talk to health professionals.

和健康專業人士談談，

Be vulnerable.

弱勢一點，

Do so with the confidence

邁開這一步，並且相信

that you are not alone.

你並不是一個人。

Speak up if you're struggling.

如果你還在掙扎，大聲說出來。

Being honest about how we feel

誠實面對自己的感受

does not make us weak;

並不會讓我們弱小；

it makes us human.

反而使我們成為人。

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

是時候終止污名化心理疾病了。

So the next time your hear "mental,"

所以，下一次， 當你聽到「心理」這個詞，

do not just think of the madman.

不要僅僅想到瘋子，

Think of me.

想想我。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）