双语：为什么春天自杀率会增高

　　Over the next few months in the northern hemisphere, suicides are likely to become more common. Why?

　　在北半球接下来的几个月里，自杀现象可能会更加普遍，这是为什么呢？

　　Studies dating back to the 1800s have found that suicides peak in the spring and are lowest in winter. “If we take winter as a baseline, then there's a 20-60% higher suicide rate during spring,” says Fotis Papadopoulos, a professor of psychiatry at Uppsala University in Sweden, who has been studying the association.

　　19世纪的研究发现，自杀率在春季达到顶峰，在冬季最低。瑞典乌普萨拉大学精神病学教授Fotis Papadopoulos说：“如果我们以冬季的自杀率为基准，那么春季的自杀率将高出20-60％。”

　　This seems rather counterintuitive considering that darker days are linked to low mood. How could this be?

　　这似乎是相当违反我们的认知的，我们通常认为萎靡的心情与较暗的天气有关。 那这到底是怎么一回事呢？

　　One possibility is that this is a result of changing levels of serotonin – a neurotransmitter that regulates mood – within the brain. Studies have found that serotonin levels in the blood are higher during the summer than the winter, and that there's a positive correlation between serotonin synthesis and the hours of sunshine on the day that a blood sample is taken.

　　一个可能的原因就是，这是血清素水平升高的结果，即5-羟色胺（一种在大脑内调节心境的神经递质）。 研究发现，夏季血液中5-羟色胺水平高于冬季，血清素合成与摄取当天阳光时间呈正相关。

　　There's also a further connection, in that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, which boost serotonin, have been linked to risk of suicide in a small number of patients. “We know that when we treat patients with antidepressants it can take at least three or four weeks to raise their mood,” says Papadopoulos. “During this time, some people become more physically active or agitated, which could potentially make them more likely to act on their thoughts. Maybe sunshine acts in a similar way in a minority of people.”

　　还有一个更进一步的联系：在选择性5-羟色胺再摄取抑制剂（SSRI）抗抑郁药中，其促进5-羟色胺，与少数患者的自杀风险相关。 Papadopoulos说：“我们知道，当我们用抗抑郁药治疗患者时，可能需要至少三到四个星期来使他们恢复好心情。在这段时间里，有些人变得更加活跃或激动，这可能会使他们更有可能采取行动。或许阳光对一部分人起到的是同样的作用。”

　　Papadopoulos has scrutinised forensic and meteorological data for more than 12,000 suicide victims, and has found that there is a link between monthly sunshine duration and suicide risk.but this link disappears in most people when the season in which the data was collected is factored in.That said,the association remains in people who were taking antidepressants at the time of death.

　　Papadopoulos已经访问了超过12,000名自杀受害者的法医，并查看了气象数据，发现每月阳光持续时间与自杀风险之间都存在联系。但当季节被考虑在收集数据之内时，这种联系会在大多数人身上消失。也就是说，季节的影响仍然存在于在死亡时服用抗抑郁药的人群中。

　　“It could be interpreted as support for the serotonergic theory,” Papadopoulos says.

　　Papadopoulos说：“这可以解释为血清素能学理论的一种支持。”

　　There are other theories, such as the release of pollen-triggered immune responses that bring about changes in brain chemistry. “It's a far-fetched idea that the romantic life of trees could be linked to suicidal behaviour in humans, but we have found an association between high tree pollen and non-violent suicides in women,” says Teodor Postolache, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. There is also evidence linking cytokine therapies – which alter the behaviour of immune cells – to suicide ideation in a small number of patients, he says.

　　还有一些其他的理论，如释放引起脑化学变化的花粉引发的免疫反应。 马里兰大学医学院精神病学教授Teodor Postolache说“将树木的浪漫生活与人类的自杀行为相关联是一个非常牵强的想法，但是我们发现了高大的树木的花粉和非暴力自杀妇女的关联，”。 他还说，还有证据表明，在少数患者中，细胞因子治疗（能够改变免疫细胞的行为）与自杀意念有关联。

　　The link between sunlight and suicide is far from clear,and it must be stressed-would only affect a minority of people.But given that antidepressant drugs are a far from perfect treatment and that we still don't fully understand depression,mood or our relationship with sunlight levels,it's an area worthy of further study.

　　阳光和自杀之间的联系是远远不够清楚的，但是必须强调，这只会影响少数人。但鉴于抗抑郁药物的效果远远不够好，并且我们仍然不够了解抑郁症、情绪和我们与阳光水平之间的关系，所以这是值得进一步研究的领域。

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