In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you deal with stress—it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy.
20世纪60年代，医学研究人员Thomas Holmes和Richard Rahe提出了一份压力事件清单。他们意识到，任何重大变化都可能带来压力是一个棘手的问题。负面事件，如“家庭成员患重病”，在榜单上名列前茅，但一些积极的改变生活的事件，如婚姻，也是如此。当你参加Holmes Rahe测试时，你必须记住，分数并不能反映你如何应对压力，它只表明你必须应对多少压力。我们现在知道，你处理这些事件的方式会极大地影响你保持健康的机会。
By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women’s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness!” If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.
到20世纪70年代初，Holmes和Rahe进行了数百项类似的研究。数百万在压力下工作和生活的美国人对这些报道感到担忧。不知怎的，这项研究被归结为一则令人难忘的新闻，女性杂志的标题类似：“压力会导致疾病！”文章说，如果你想保持身心健康，就要避免压力事件。
But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many - like the death of a loved one - are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
但这样简单的建议是不可能遵循的。即使压力事件是危险的，许多事件——比如亲人的死亡——也是无法避免的。此外，任何避免所有压力事件的警告都是一种逃离机遇和麻烦的方式。由于任何变化都可能带来压力，一个想要完全摆脱压力的人永远不能结婚、生孩子、找新工作或搬家。
The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we’re all vulnerable and passive in the face of adversity. But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and mental strain.
所有压力都会让你生病的想法也忽略了我们对人的很多了解。它假设我们都很脆弱，在逆境中被动。但人类的主动性和创造力又如何呢？许多人在经历压力时期时，身体和精神都比以前更有活力。我们也知道，长时间没有改变或挑战会导致无聊、身体和精神紧张。
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