经常无聊也可能是一种病

 【英文原文】

We’ve all been bored from time to time. Sometimes, when we’re really at loose ends, we might even say we’re “bored to death” or “so bored I could die!”

We don’t really mean it, of course.

But according to one study, it may be true. That is, it seems possible literally¹ to be bored to death. Researchers in England looked at surveys done in the mid² 1980s–several thousand questionnaires filled out by London civil servants about their jobs.

The researchers found that those who’d said that in the previous month they were bored at work were more than twice as likely as other workers to die of a heart problem over the follow up period. Workers who claimed to be interested in their jobs were less likely to die prematurely³.

Now, this doesn’t mean that feeling bored every once in a while will kill you. We’re talking about chronic⁴ boredom⁵, as in being bored all the time.

And it’s not necessarily boredom itself that’s deadly. Most probably, according to the study, it’s the fact that being bored often leads to unhealthy habits such smoking, overeating, drinking, and abusing drugs.

Other studies have linked boredom and depression–a disease known often to lead to poor health.

Does this mean that being engaged and interested–in other words, the opposite of bored–leads to better health?

Maybe. If not being bored means being physically⁶ active and adopting good dietary and exercise habits, then it certainly can’t hurt.

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

3 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。