纽约时报 疫情当前 强迫症患者的困境(1)（在线收听）

For Those With O.C.D., A Threat That Is Both Heightened and Familiar

强迫症患者的困境 一个日益突出却并不陌生的威胁

The coronavirus outbreak has turned many of us into nervous germophobes,

新冠疫情的爆发让我们中间的许多人都变成了神经质的细菌恐惧症患者，

seeking to protect ourselves from infection by washing our hands methodically and frequently,

为了保护自己不受感染，我们频繁且认真地洗手，

avoiding unnecessary contact with so called high-touch surfaces and methodically sanitizing packages, our homes and our bodies.

避免与所谓的“高频接触物表”发生不必要的接触，认真消毒包裹、家还有我们的身体。

For people diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or O.C.D., the worry created by the threat of coronavirus has the potential for more intense and longer-lasting implications.

然而，新冠病毒引发的担忧对强迫症（OCD）患者或许有着更加强烈而持久的影响。

According to the International OCD Foundation,

据国际强迫症基金会透露，

there are about three million Americans who have been diagnosed with O.C.D.

有近300万美国人被诊断患有强迫症。

It’s a condition characterized by unwanted thoughts or urges that generate high levels of anxiety and repetitive acts meant to neutralize the obsessional thought.

这是一种以不必要的，会诱发重度焦虑心理及为平复强迫性思绪而做出的重复性行为的想法或冲动为表征的疾病。

The cleaning and sanitizing practices that help prevent coronavirus infection are bringing people with O.C.D. into closer orbit

清洁和消毒确实有助于预防冠状病毒感染，却也将强迫症患者进一步推向了一大有害习惯，

to behaviors that are a gateway to detrimental patterns that could interfere with their ability to engage meaningfully with the world outside their homes for years to come.

一个或将在未来数年内一直影响他们与家门外的外界社会有效互动的习惯的大门。

Courtenay Patlin, a 28-year-old in Los Angeles, is trying to find balance between appropriate caution and overreaction.

洛杉矶28岁的女士柯特奈·帕特林正试着在适度的谨慎和过度反应之间求取平衡。

Several weeks ago, before the California shelter-in-place order, Ms. Patlin decided to mostly stay indoors.

几周前，加州还未下达原地隔离命令，帕特林就已决定大部分时间在室内活动。

She had read enough about how quickly coronavirus had spread in China, Italy and then Seattle, and how very sick it was making so many.

她看了不少有关新冠肺炎在中国，意大利乃至西雅图如何快速地传播，如何严重侵蚀无数人的健康的资讯，

She felt she could rely on only herself and her Clorox to stay healthy.

感觉唯有靠自己，靠高乐氏（清洁用品品牌）才能保持健康。

“I keep a very clean apartment, and I feel safe at home,” she said.

“我家里保持得非常干净，待在家里我很安全，”她说。

Ms. Patlin, a graduate student studying clinical psychology, was diagnosed with O.C.D. about five years ago, she said,

帕特林女士是一名研究临床心理学的研究生，她说，大约五年前自己被诊断出了患有强迫症，

after years of being afraid of public toilets,

多年来，她一直十分畏惧使用公共厕所，

refusing to eat off dishes that she hadn’t scrubbed herself or witnessed being sufficiently cleaned by others

还拒绝吃用不是自己洗的盘子或她没有亲眼看到被洗得干干净净的盘子盛的食物，

and being fearful of being hugged by basically anyone.

还害怕与任何人拥抱。

She used to clean her apartment and her hands with pure bleach and cleaning solutions until the skin on her fingers started to peel off,

过去，她常常不加勾兑直接用漂白剂和洗涤液洗手或是清洁她的公寓，一直洗到手指部位的皮肤开始脱落为止，

which she would take as a sign that she was cleaning the proper amount.

她甚至认为那才是清洁合格的标志。

In recent years, she said, she had managed what is known as “contamination O.C.D.” with medication and therapy.

据她透露，近年来，在药物和治疗的帮助下，她的病情，也即所谓的“污染强迫症”，已经得到了控制。

But these days, Ms. Patlin has felt her O.C.D. take reign again.

然而，最近几日，帕特林女士感觉到她的强迫症又死灰复燃了。

When she heard a neighbor sneeze across the courtyard, she closed her windows to keep out any shared air.

当她听到院子对面的邻居打喷嚏后，她便关上了窗户，将她们之间的空气拒之门外。

When a friend picked up Ms. Patlin’s prescriptions from a pharmacy and left them for her at her doorstep,

一位朋友帮她从药房取回了处药方并放在了她家门口后，

she wiped down the bottles with bleach, in the hope of killing any germs the pharmacist may have transmitted.

她用漂白剂将那些药瓶统统擦拭了一遍，希望能杀死药剂师可能传播给她的任何细菌。

The most complicated part is she doesn't even know anymore what’s too much.

最令人头疼的是，她已经不知道多清洁算过于清洁了。

“These are the moments when I am asking myself, ‘Is that my O.C.D. or should I be doing that?’” Ms. Patlin said.

“这时候，我会问我自己，‘算强迫症吗，还是我就应该这么谨慎？’”帕特林女士说。

“The lines are getting blurred.”

“二者的界限已经不那么分明了。”