ESL Podcast 651 – Psychological Disorders

　　Brett: Hi, Dr. Mollie. Could I speak to you for a few minutes?
Dr. Mollie: Certainly. Have a seat.
Brett: I’m really enjoying your psychology¹ class and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.
Dr. Mollie: Sure, go ahead.
Brett: Well, I have a friend who is nervous all the time, especially around other people. Could he have a serious problem?
Dr. Mollie: It’s hard to say without knowing your friend, but he may have an anxiety disorder² or some type of phobia.
Brett: I was afraid of that. Well, I have another friend who has mood swings all the time and washes his hands 50 times a day.
Dr. Mollie: Again, I don’t know your friend so it’s hard to make a diagnosis³, but he may have a bipolar disorder and may also be obsessive-compulsive.
Brett: That sounds really serious. Well, I have another friend who doesn’t eat and sits around all day playing with fire. That’s bad, isn’t it?
Dr. Mollie: It could be. Your friend may have an eating disorder and his interest in fire may indicate that he has pyromania⁴, but it’s very hard to say.
Brett: Did I mention that he likes to steal things, too?
Dr. Mollie: People who feel compelled to steal may have kleptomania⁵. Who are all of these friends you’re talking about? Do I know them?
Brett: No, definitely not.
Dr. Mollie: Hmm, would your “friends” like to make an appointment with a therapist? It sounds like it may be a good idea.
Brett: No, no. My “friends” wouldn’t like that. He has a real fear of doctors.
Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

4 pyromania   

n.纵火狂

参考例句：

• The person arrested for setting the fire had been suspected of pyromania on two previous occasions.此人在先前的两个场合中阻止扑灭火灾涉嫌有纵火癖。
• Let us discuss,first,five of the most common manias:kleptomania,pyromania,dipsomania,megalomania,and monomania.首先让我们讨论五种最常见的狂热症：盗窃狂症，纵火狂症，耽酒狂症，妄想自大狂症，偏执狂症。

5 kleptomania   

n.盗窃癖

参考例句：

• Kleptomania is a mania for stealing things.盗窃癖是一种爱偷东西的躁狂症。
• The millionaire who was caught shoplifting was found to be suffering from kleptomania.那个因逛街时顺手牵羊而被捉到的百万富翁，被发现有盗窃癖。