节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-02-22
难易度:High
关键字:counselor, productively, medication, discern, antidepressant
Welcome back.
Today we are talking about some helpful treatments for depression.
Are you struggling with depression?
I hope not, but maybe you know someone who is.
The most common treatments with this illness are medicine and therapy.
Through therapy with her counselor, the author of our lesson realized that she
had unhealthy thought patterns which affected her actions.
But what if your depression is more serious?
Let's continue learning about this now.
(Music).
Depression Part 2: Fighting the Darkness.
Therapy is often effective for treating mild or moderate depression, but more
extreme cases require medication.
Drugs called antidepressants treat depression by changing a person's brain
chemistry.
They can often help severe depression, especially when combined with therapy.
If you think you need antidepressants, talk to your doctor.
If you begin taking them, watch for side effects, and tell your doctor if any
new problems emerge.
Fighting depression takes time and effort, but the darkness does pass.
Understanding the causes of depression and discerning the right strategy to
defeat it are important steps toward healing.
(Chinese).
And now let's go to the teachers.
Thanks, Michelle.
So here we're talking about therapy.
And we read therapy is often effective for treating mild or moderate depression,
but more extreme cases required medication.
So if you suffer from mild depression, maybe therapy is enough.
But if it's more serious, you may need to take medicine of some sort.
Right. And when we use the word "medication," many times it means medicine or
drugs.
A kind of drug is mentioned here - antidepressants.
Anti- means not or against.
So an antidepressant is a kind of drug that fights against depression.
But before we talk more about that, let's join Liz in the Grammar Gym.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
In today's lesson we see this sentence:
Therapy is often effective for treating mild or moderate depression, but more
extreme cases require medication.
This just means that therapy is good for treating mild or moderate depression,
but medication is needed if the cases are more extreme.
But saying it that way is wordier.
Notice the sentence pattern in today's sentence:
[something] is effective for ..., but more extreme cases require [something
else].
This is a good sentence pattern when you want to talk about how something is
good for taking care of a certain problem.
But if there is an even more serious problem, then something else would be
needed.
For example:
Taking supplements is effective for treating minor health problems, but more
extreme cases require a trip to the doctor's office.
Or: A combination of vinegar and baking soda is effective for treating a slow
drain, but more extreme cases require a strong cleaner or even a plumber.
So friends, give the sentence pattern a try.
Think of something that is good for treating less serious problems,
and then what would be needed if the problem were more serious, and practice
using this sentence pattern.
If you want to see more examples, they're available in today's Grammar Tip
section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thanks, Liz.
I always feel that your way of explaining things is indeed effective.
Now to learn more about antidepressants or antidepressants, they change a
person's brain chemistry.
So your brain will react in a different way than it did before.
Now friends, if you do take antidepressants, make sure you talk to your doctor
first.
That's right.
Our author tells us to watch for side effects.
Watching for something means to observe to see if something happens or changes.
Now we read here that fighting depression takes time and effort, but the
darkness does pass.
Depression and darkness, those words are kind of similar.
Steve and Ken want to talk about these words in the Information Cloud.
Let's go there now.
Here are some words from today's lesson that we put into pairs: medicine and
drugs, extreme and severe, depression and darkness.
What do these pairs have in common?
They're synonyms.
Now many of us think of synonyms as words having the same meaning.
Yes, but can two words really have the same meaning?
One British writer says no.
He says true synonyms don't exist because no two words carry precisely the same
meaning.
I think he might be onto something, because in addition to a word's primary
meaning,
each word has a secondary or implied meaning, something we call connotation.
Right. A word's connotation comes from its history, its place of origin, the
context in which it's used and any emotional association it has.
To illustrate, let's look at the words flabby, chubby and strong.
Do they all have the same meaning?
Well, they're all possible synonyms for the word "fat," but they're not exactly
interchangeable.
Right.
The first word is insulting.
The second, endearing.
The third word is sometimes used as a compliment.
Our point is, friends, beware of a word's connotation because synonyms don't
have the exact same meaning.
(Chinese).
Thanks, you guys.
Well, as we read, the darkness will pass.
But I think it's also important to remember that God understands our most
difficult moments.
Yeah, but not everyone believes in God.
True, but some people say I don't believe in God because of all the suffering in
the world.
Now anyone who says that doesn't understand that God Himself has experienced
more pain than any of us.
Hmm. I do agree with you there, and that should bring us to Him, not away from
Him, in painful experiences.
For me, actually, that is a big part of healing from pain in my own life knowing
that God understands and is with me.
This is a big step toward healing.
I like that phrase: a step toward healing, or a step toward something else.
Do you remember learning the phrase "the road to healing" yesterday?
Well, this is kind of the same idea.
You take steps toward healing on the road to healing.
It's all a part of life's journey.
That's right.
Now what else can you take steps toward?
Another word for healing is recovery.
We often say we are taking steps toward complete recovery.
Or maybe you are taking steps toward getting better grades.
Or you are taking steps toward becoming a better, more loving person.
And if you want to be on the road to healing, it's important to understand the
causes of depression and discern the right strategy to defeat it.
Defeat is another word we see here in our lesson.
You remember discussing the words "fight" and "conquer," right?
Here's another word people use when talking about a struggle.
And when you defeat something, that means you overcome it.
It's very similar to the word conquer.
If you are playing a sport, your team wants to defeat the other team.
If someone wins most or all of the time, we could say that person or team is
undefeated.
Nobody can beat them.
And you could use this word to talk about many kinds of contests and
competitions.
For example, maybe you participate in the Battle of the Bands, and you hope your
band plays the best music.
You want to be undefeated.
Well, speaking of music, something else we discussed earlier in today's lesson
is music therapy.
There are some songs that act as therapy and give healing.
For me, I really enjoy a band called downhere, and their songs Great Are You and
Calmer of the Storm.
I think that a Bill Wither's song Lovely Day is also a great song for healing.
Do you have any of these kinds of songs, Carolyn?
Well, actually, I really like a song called Slow Your Breath Down by the band
Future of Forestry.
Listen to some of these songs on YouTube, see if you can learn the lyrics, too.
They may not only help you fight depression, but listening to songs is a great
way to improve your English.
Well, I want to hear The Black Pearl's song "Do You Need a Friend?" again.
And then we'll enjoy a review skit and the Editor's Summary.
(Music).
Why me?
Why me?
Why you, what?
I struggle with depression.
I don't even know what triggers it.
Well, many elements contribute to depression.
Like what?
Well, physical problems, illnesses, hormones, medicines or genetic causes.
So depression is a physical problem.
Maybe, but any stressful life experience can cause depression.
So maybe it's a life experience problem.
Maybe, or it could be a psychological factor, a pessimistic attitude or low
self-esteem.
Oh. Or maybe all of those things? Oh, no!
Oh, don't feel sad.
I can't help it! I'm depressed!
Right, but treatment can put you on the road to healing.
Well, what kind of treatment?
The most common treatments are therapy and medicine.
Oh. What about professional help?
A counselor can help you view life more positively and realistically.
Well, that would be helpful.
And they would encourage you to eat right, exercise and sleep enough.
And that's important.
And discuss what triggers troubling emotions.
So maybe therapy can help me!
Maybe therapy can be effective.
Of course, extreme cases may require medication called antidepressants.
Hmm... OK. Understanding depression and discerning the right treatment sounds
really important for me.
Yes, they're the first steps toward healing.
Well, I'm ready to take the first steps.
So what can you do if you feel depressed more than you think you should?
There's therapy with a counselor who should help you look at thought patterns
and actions in your life.
Some therapists focus on relationships or trauma and how to handle them.
In addition, at times, medication or a combination of therapy and medication
helps.
Understanding what depression is and discerning the strategy to cope with it are
very important steps in the healing process.
Thank you, Linda.
We've learned a lot over the past couple of days from our lesson about the
causes of depression and how you can defeat it.
I hope it has been helpful for you, and we'll see you next time right here on
Studio Classroom.
See you then.