Most mental illness hits early in life, with half of all cases starting by age 14, a survey of nearly 10,000 U.S. adults found. 

    Many cases begin with mild, easy-to-dismiss symptoms such as low-level anxiousness or persistent shyness, but left untreated, they can quickly escalate into severe depression, disabling phobias or clinical anxiety, said Ronald Kessler, a Harvard Medical School researcher involved in the study. 

    That so many cases begin in people so young — three-fourths start by age 24 — "is just staggering" and underscores the need for better efforts at early detection and treatment, Kessler said. 

    "These disorders have really become the chronic disorders of young people in America," said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which helped fund the research. 

    The findings, published in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, were based on face-to-face interviews conducted with people ages 18 and older in 2001 through 2003. 

    The new figures also show that the prevalence of mental illness nationwide has stabilized for the first time since the end of World War II, Kessler said. 

    About 46 percent of people surveyed said they had experienced a mental illness at some point in their lives, and about 26 percent said they had within the previous year — rates similar to those reported in a 1994 version of the survey. Before the earlier survey, rates had steadily increased since the mid-1940s, Kessler said.

    The previous increase was probably at least partly due to better detection and awareness, Kessler said.

    The overall prevalence rate is probably an underestimate because the study included only English-speaking adults and excluded rarer illnesses such as schizophrenia and autism.

    Most ailments were mild. Only about one-fifth of those who reported any mental disorder within the past year had a serious illness, meaning their daily activities were severely affected. 

    最近公布的一項(xiàng)對(duì)于1萬(wàn)名美國(guó)成年人的調(diào)查結(jié)果顯示，相當(dāng)一部分精神病患者在年齡很小的時(shí)候便已出現(xiàn)相關(guān)癥狀，其中一半病例的發(fā)病時(shí)間開(kāi)始于14歲左右。 

    據(jù)美聯(lián)社6月7日?qǐng)?bào)道，研究人員在2001年到2003年間對(duì)年齡不小于18歲的采樣人群進(jìn)行了面對(duì)面的訪談，并將調(diào)查結(jié)論刊登在6月號(hào)的《普通精神病學(xué)文獻(xiàn)集》上。 

    調(diào)查顯示，很多患者的最初癥狀輕微且易于擺脫，諸如輕微的焦慮或持續(xù)性的害羞等，但如果不及時(shí)診治，它們會(huì)迅速發(fā)展成為嚴(yán)重的抑郁情緒、導(dǎo)致喪失行為能力的恐懼、臨床焦慮等。 

    參與此項(xiàng)調(diào)查的哈佛大學(xué)醫(yī)院研究員凱斯勒表示，這么多人在如此年輕的時(shí)候便開(kāi)始發(fā)病——四分之三的患者在24歲之前便已表現(xiàn)出某些癥狀——“這的確令人感到十分驚訝”，同時(shí)也凸現(xiàn)出加強(qiáng)早期診斷和治療的必要性。 

    美國(guó)國(guó)家精神健康研究院院長(zhǎng)托馬斯·因賽爾博士說(shuō)："美國(guó)年輕人經(jīng)歷的最初的心理失調(diào)已經(jīng)真正演變成為慢性精神紊亂。" 

    約有46%的被調(diào)查者表示，他們都曾經(jīng)在過(guò)去生活的某個(gè)階段遭遇過(guò)精神疾病的襲擊，而大約26%的人則聲稱(chēng)自己在最近一年中剛剛體驗(yàn)過(guò)這種痛苦--該比例與1994年的調(diào)查結(jié)果相近。凱斯勒透露，在更早以前，同類(lèi)比例從上世紀(jì)40年代中期開(kāi)始，一直呈穩(wěn)定的上升態(tài)勢(shì)。 

    凱斯勒認(rèn)為，這些新的數(shù)字還表明，精神病在全美范圍內(nèi)的流行程度在二戰(zhàn)后首次趨于穩(wěn)定。以前報(bào)告的上升趨勢(shì)或許應(yīng)部分歸功于診治技術(shù)的不斷進(jìn)步。 

    這次研究所得出的精神病總流行比例或許比實(shí)際情況要低一些，因?yàn)槠湔{(diào)查對(duì)象只包括了講英語(yǔ)的成年人，而且還排除了那些患有較為罕見(jiàn)的精神病--比如精神分裂癥和自閉癥患者。

    大部分精神病患者的日常表現(xiàn)是非常平和的。在那些被認(rèn)為處于某種精神紊亂狀態(tài)的人中，只有大約五分之一的人在過(guò)去一年中有過(guò)劇烈的精神病發(fā)作，也就是說(shuō)他們的日常生活因精神原因受到了嚴(yán)重影響。