新式现代病“爆炸头综合症”

"There's this sudden crescendo of noise, then a profound and jarring explosion of sound, electrical fizzing and a bright flash in my vision, like someone has lit a spotlight in front of my face."
“噪音突然增大，然后我听到巨大、刺耳的爆炸声，看到电火花和明亮的闪光，就像别人把聚光灯打到我的脸上一样。”

That's how Niels Nielsen describes what it's like to live with "exploding head syndrome" – an unpleasant and sometimes terrifying sensation. Others describe it as like a bomb going off next to their head as they fall asleep. Sometimes it occurs just once in a lifetime, for others it happens multiple times a night.
这就是尼尔斯·尼尔森对“爆炸头综合症”的描述——一种让人不适，有时甚至让人感到恐怖的体验。也有其他人将这种症状描述为，就像是快睡着时头附近有炸弹爆炸一般。有些人一生只经历一次，另一些人则一晚会经历多次。

The physician Silas Weir Mitchell first described the disorder in 1876, when he described two men who suffered from what he called "sensory discharges" – the men themselves described it as hearing "loud bells" or a "gunshot" that would wake them from sleep.
1876年，外科医生西拉斯·魏尔·米歇尔首次记述了这种病，他当时描述称两名男子出现了他称之为“感官放电”的症状——他们自称因听到“巨大的钟声”或“枪声”而惊醒。

Theories about the cause of an exploding head are speculative, says Brian Sharpless, assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University. Several ideas have been proposed, including ear disorders and partial epileptic seizures. But the most compelling theory comes from a handful of studies in which people with the condition have had their brain activity monitored overnight. These studies suggest that there may be a burst of neural activity in the brain that coincides with the reported explosion.
华盛顿州立大学心理学助理教授布赖恩·夏普莱斯表示，关于爆炸头综合症的原因尚无定论。目前已提出几种可能，包括耳功能障碍和癫痫局部发作等。其中一种理论最具可信度，多项对夜间大脑活动进行监控的研究显示，发现爆炸头症状出现的同时往往伴随着大脑神经活动的突然活跃。

While there is no cure-all treatment, antidepressants reduce occurrence, as do relaxation and stress-busting techniques. "You can help a lot just by reassuring a person that they're not crazy or experiencing symptoms of a tumour or some other brain disorder," says Sharpless.
虽然还没有根治的方法，抗抑郁药可以减少该病症出现的次数，放松和减压技巧也有相同效果。夏普莱斯称：“只要让患者确信自己没有疯掉，这也不是肿瘤的症状或其他的大脑病症，就是对他们的极大帮助。”

（中国日报网英语点津 丁一）