第5章 治疗心灵创伤的药物

Medicine for a Broken Heart

佚名/Anonymous

我的朋友中，若有人失恋，被抛弃的人当然会沮丧难过。失恋后的悲伤有两种反应——要么食欲全无，要么通过暴饮暴食的方式来减轻对爱情的怀念。

宿舍里，若有同伴和男友分手后想放纵一下食欲，我们都会参与进来，无节制地享用那些毫无营养价值的食品，比如冰淇淋、蛋糕、饼干、炸薯片之类的，这些都是我们大量消耗的安慰性食品。这种悲伤反应的原因有很多种。首先，在我们这个年纪——19岁——都很关注自身外在形象。我们希望自己魅力十足，希望自身的形象符合社会的审美标准。为了达到这个目的，我们限制食物的种类，减少食量和进餐次数；还常到健身房进行过量的运动，来消耗过多的热量。美丽，让我们保持着良好的习惯，维护好恋情。但是，一旦身心受创，他或她就会将那些健康习惯抛之脑后，食用那些以前禁食的东西来获得些许快乐。无疑，这完全是一种恶性循环。失恋、沮丧、暴饮暴食、发胖反过来又会打击我们，努力找回自尊，开始新的恋情，这样循环往复地进行下去。

食物并不是慰藉失恋者的唯一方法。我的一个朋友通过逛商场来抚慰自己受伤的心——添置新衣服、鞋子，或是买一件珠宝——这会让她好受些。不管是食物还是购物，只要不是太过分，自我放纵往往就是治疗抑郁的良药。然而，失恋后最糟糕的反应就是通过酗酒和吸毒来寻求解脱。

Within my group of friends， when one of us is struggling with a recent breakup after a long-term relationship， the castaway will be sad and depressed. The response to sadness takes one of two courses—either appetite fails totally， or we eat excessively to quell our yearnings over lost loves.

If one of the girls in my dorm wants to indulge her appetite for food after a breakup， we all join in. We all eat terrible food in terrible quantities. For instance， ice cream， cakes， cookies and potato chips all become comfort foods that we consume in excess. I think this happens for a variety of reasons. To begin with， at my age—nineteen—we are all very concerned with our physical appearance. We want to be attractive， to have the kind of body image our society values. To that end， we moderate what kinds of foods we eat， how much， and how often； and we often overexert ourselves at the gym trying to burn off extra calories. We maintain good habits to keep up good appearance and thereby maintain a good relationship. However， when anyone experiences something as stressful and emotionally draining as a broken heart， he or she tends to disregard healthy habits and takes some pleasure in consuming those formerly forbidden foods. Of course， it is all a vicious circle. We lose our boyfriends， we become depressed， we eat， we gain weight (which， in turn， depresses us)， we struggle to regain our self-respect， we enter into another relationship， and the cycle goes on.

Food is not the only recourse for a sad lover. One friend of mine soothes her broken heart by going shopping—buying new clothes and new shoes， maybe a piece of jewelry—to make herself feel better. Whether it's food or shopping， self-indulgence is often good medicine for the blues， if it is not carried to excess. The worst response is turning to alcohol or drugs.