Whether you've lost a job or a girlfriend, it won't take long before someone tells you, Dust yourself off. Time heals all wounds.

無(wú)論你是失去了工作還是女朋友，要不了多久就會(huì)有人告訴你，重新振作起來(lái)，時(shí)間會(huì)治愈所有的傷痛。

Yes, but how much time?

的確是這樣，可是要多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間呢？

Experts say most people should give themselves a good two years to recover from an emotional trauma such as a breakup or the loss of a job. And if you were blindsided by the event -- your spouse left abruptly, you were fired unexpectedly -- it could take longer.

專家說(shuō)大多數(shù)人應(yīng)該給自己整整兩年的時(shí)間以從分手或失業(yè)這樣的感情創(chuàng)傷中恢復(fù)。如果發(fā)生的事情讓你猝不及防──你的配偶突然離你而去，你毫無(wú)預(yù)料地遭到解雇──恢復(fù)起來(lái)可能需要花更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間。

That is more time than most people expect, says Prudence Gourguechon, a psychiatrist in Chicago and former president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. It's important to know roughly how long the emotional disruption will last. Once you get over the shock that it is going to be a long process, you can relax, Dr. Gourguechon says. 'You don't have to feel pressure to be OK, because you're not OK.'

芝加哥的精神病學(xué)家、美國(guó)精神分析協(xié)會(huì)(the American Psychoanalytic Association)前主席普魯?shù)墙z•古爾格雄(Prudence Gourguechon)說(shuō)，這比大多數(shù)人預(yù)計(jì)的時(shí)間要長(zhǎng)。知道感情困擾持續(xù)的大致時(shí)間長(zhǎng)短很重要。古爾格雄博士說(shuō)，一旦你克服了那種震驚感，認(rèn)可了恢復(fù)是一個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)過(guò)程，你就可以放松了�！澳悴槐亟o自己壓力，覺(jué)得自己應(yīng)該沒(méi)事，因?yàn)槭聦?shí)上你并不是沒(méi)事�！�

Some experts call this recovery period an 'identity crisis process.' It is perfectly normal, they say, to feel depressed, anxious and distracted during this time -- in other words, to be an emotional mess. (Getting over the death of a loved one is more complicated and typically will take even longer than two years, experts say.)

一些專家稱這個(gè)恢復(fù)期為“認(rèn)同危機(jī)過(guò)程”(identity crisis process)。他們說(shuō)，在這段時(shí)間里感到郁悶沮喪、焦慮不安和心煩意亂是完全正常的──換句話說(shuō)，情緒上是一團(tuán)亂麻。（專家說(shuō)，至親至愛(ài)的人去世，要從中恢復(fù)是件更復(fù)雜的事，需要的時(shí)間一般會(huì)超過(guò)兩年。）

Some people may find they need less than two years to bounce back from a divorce. But experts caution that it probably doesn't pay to ignore the process, hurry it along or deny it, say, by immediately moving across the country to get a fresh start or diving into a new relationship. That will probably only postpone the day of reckoning.

有些人也許發(fā)現(xiàn)他們離婚后恢復(fù)的時(shí)間不需要兩年。但是專家警告說(shuō)，忽視這一過(guò)程可能會(huì)得不償失，比如以搬到遙遠(yuǎn)的地方重新開始生活或投入一段新感情的方式加快或拒絕承認(rèn)這一過(guò)程，那樣也許只能讓最終清算日的到來(lái)往后推遲一點(diǎn)而已。

After all, it takes time to rethink all the things that may be disrupted by emotional trauma, such as one's living situation, finances, professional goals and -- maybe most important -- how a person sees him or herself. There aren't any shortcuts. 'The whole sweep of your life has to be reassessed and rewoven,' Dr. Gourguechon says.

畢竟，重新考慮可能被感情創(chuàng)傷所打亂的所有事情是需要花費(fèi)時(shí)間的，比如一個(gè)人的生活現(xiàn)狀、財(cái)務(wù)狀況、職業(yè)目標(biāo)以及──或許是最重要的──一個(gè)人如何看待自己。沒(méi)有任何捷徑。古爾格雄博士說(shuō)：“你的整個(gè)生活都必須重新評(píng)估、重新編織。”

Four years ago, Michael Hassard filed for divorce from his wife of almost eight years and began attending a 'divorce care' class at his Baptist church in Muscle Shoals, Ala. At the first meeting, the instructor said it would take two years to come out of the emotional turmoil.

四年前，邁克爾•哈薩德(Michael Hassard)申請(qǐng)與結(jié)婚近八年的妻子離婚并開始參加阿拉巴馬州馬斯?fàn)栃�爾�?Muscle Shoals)浸禮會(huì)教堂開辦的“離婚關(guān)懷”班。第一次上課的時(shí)候，老師說(shuō)走出情緒波動(dòng)期需要兩年的時(shí)間。

'Hearing that was actually a relief,' says Mr. Hassard, 42 and an engineer at a company that designs and builds chemical plants. 'It gave me a finish line and a goal to work toward.'

哈薩德說(shuō)：“聽(tīng)到那樣的說(shuō)法實(shí)際上是一種解脫。它給了我一個(gè)終點(diǎn)線和一個(gè)為之努力的目標(biāo)。”現(xiàn)年42歲的哈薩德在一家設(shè)計(jì)和建造化工廠的公司擔(dān)任工程師。

Mr. Hassard, who was awarded custody of his son and daughter, had been feeling depressed, angry, resentful and overwhelmed as a suddenly-single parent. He was sitting in class one night and began to see his recovery as the wall he'd had to scale on an Army boot-camp obstacle course. It was going to be tough. There was no way around it. But things would be better on the other side.

哈薩德得到了他兒子和女兒的監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)，突然間成為一名單親父親，他曾感到郁悶、憤怒、怨恨、不知所措。一天晚上，他坐在課堂里，開始把他的恢復(fù)看成是他在軍隊(duì)集訓(xùn)的越野障礙訓(xùn)練場(chǎng)上必須攀爬過(guò)去的一堵 ，翻過(guò)去會(huì)很艱難，沒(méi)有可以迂回包抄的路。但是到了 的另一面，事情會(huì)發(fā)生好轉(zhuǎn)。

He went home and taped a note, titled 'Two Years,' onto the fridge. It said, 'I am going to get back to normal, and I am going to do it right.'

回到家后，他在冰箱上貼了一張紙條，標(biāo)題是“兩年”。紙條上寫道：“我要恢復(fù)正常，我會(huì)把這件事做得很好�！�

Recovering from a divorce or job loss actually involves two overlapping processes. There is the recovery from grief. And there is the even more time-consuming process of rebuilding the structure of your life. Where will you eat dinner? Who will your friends be? After all, if you are married, even if you hate your spouse, 'you know when to show up and when to come home,' Dr. Gourguechon says.

從離婚或失業(yè)中恢復(fù)實(shí)際上包含兩個(gè)交叉的過(guò)程，其一是從悲痛中恢復(fù)，另一個(gè)甚至更耗時(shí)的過(guò)程是重建你的生活結(jié)構(gòu)。你會(huì)到哪里吃晚餐？你會(huì)交哪些朋友？古爾格雄博士說(shuō)，畢竟，如果你是個(gè)結(jié)了婚的人，哪怕你討厭你的配偶，“你也知道何時(shí)參加活動(dòng)，何時(shí)回家”。

If you saw the loss coming -- say you initiated the divorce -- you are ahead of a person who was caught off guard. A person taken by surprise is 'required to do a lot more rumination,' says Sandra Petronio, a professor of communication at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. 'You need to do some type of analysis about what happened to you.'

如果你事先知道自己即將失去什么──比如是你提出的離婚──那你會(huì)比措手不及的人好一些。在印第安納大學(xué)-普度大學(xué)印第安納波利斯分校(Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis)擔(dān)任溝通學(xué)教授的桑德拉•彼得羅尼奧(Sandra Petronio)說(shuō)，一個(gè)遭受突然襲擊的人“需要更多地深思，你需要對(duì)發(fā)生在你身上的事情進(jìn)行一些分析�！�

'People start thinking they are crazy because the things they usually do to right their ship -- things like talking to their mother, asking their friends for help, getting some sleep -- don't work anymore,' says Ilene Dillon, a licensed clinical social worker in Kentfield, Calif. 'And you have all these emotions that won't seem to stop.'

加利福尼亞州肯特菲爾德(Kentfield)的執(zhí)業(yè)臨床社會(huì)工作者伊雷恩•狄龍(Ilene Dillon)說(shuō)：“你會(huì)開始認(rèn)為自己瘋了，因?yàn)橥ǔＤ銥樾拚�自己這艘航船所做的那些事情──諸如和母親交談、找鄰居幫忙、睡一會(huì)兒覺(jué)這些事情──都不再起作用了，而且你還有所有這些似乎無(wú)法抑制的情緒�！�

To help yourself get through the process, accept that there is nothing wrong with you, even if your emotions feel overwhelming. Remind yourself that this period will end. Tell your friends and family that while you may not be your typical self for a while, you still need their support and you will recover.

為了幫助自己熬過(guò)這一過(guò)程，你得接受自己沒(méi)有過(guò)錯(cuò)這一點(diǎn)，哪怕你的情緒感覺(jué)難以抑制。提醒自己這段日子終將結(jié)束，告訴你的朋友和家人，雖然在一段時(shí)間之內(nèi)你可能不再是平常的那個(gè)自己，但是你仍然需要他們的支持，你會(huì)恢復(fù)過(guò)來(lái)的。

Don't make any major, permanent changes, if you can help it, such as moving to a new city. Therapy can help, so you won't have to go through the process alone. As for a new relationship -- forget about it.

如果可以做到的話，不要做出任何永久性的重大改變，比如搬到一座新的城市去住。接受心理治療是有幫助的，如此你就不必獨(dú)自一人熬過(guò)這一過(guò)程。至于新的一段感情──還是算了吧。

During what he calls his own two-year 'divorce recovery process,' Mr. Hassard revised the note on his fridge every three months or so, updating his progress and objectives. He targeted different areas, such as 'self worth,' 'facing my anger,' 'being a good parent,' 'forgiveness,' 'moving on.'

在哈薩德自稱的兩年“離婚恢復(fù)期”中，他每三個(gè)月左右就修改一下冰箱上的紙條，更新自己的進(jìn)展和目標(biāo)。他的紙條針對(duì)不同方面的目標(biāo)，比如：“自我價(jià)值”、“正視我的憤怒”、“做一名好家長(zhǎng)”、“寬宏大量”、“繼續(xù)前進(jìn)”。

'If you don't rewrite your goals,' says Mr. Hassard, who has since moved to Centerville, Utah, 'they start to become invisible.'

后來(lái)遷居猶他州森特維爾(Centerville)的哈薩德說(shuō)：“如果你不重新改寫目標(biāo)，它們就開始變得不清晰了�！�

Sometimes small decisions tripped him up, such as which side of the bed to sleep on, or whom to call at the end of a good day. He kept a journal, burning his most bitter entries on the backyard barbecue grill. He sometimes cried or yelled while commuting alone in his car, rolling down the windows or dropping the convertible top to 'let it all blow out behind you.' He waited more than a year to start dating, until he noticed himself 'looking for good things instead of trying to avoid the bad.'

有時(shí)，一些小的決定就會(huì)難倒他，比如在床的哪一邊睡覺(jué)，或者美好的一天結(jié)束時(shí)給誰(shuí)打電話。他記日記，然后在后院的燒烤架上把其中最痛苦的內(nèi)容燒掉。有時(shí)一個(gè)人開車上下班時(shí)他會(huì)大哭大叫，搖下車窗或打開折疊敞篷“任其在自己身后兜風(fēng)鼓脹”。他等了一年多，直到他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己是“在尋找美好的事物而不是試圖躲避壞事”了才開始約會(huì)。

One night, when the two years were up, Mr. Hassard held a celebration. While the kids were at a slumber party, he cooked himself his favorite meal -- bacon-wrapped chicken, green-bean casserole and garlic toast -- and opened a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

兩年時(shí)間滿了的時(shí)候，哈薩德在一個(gè)夜晚舉辦了慶祝會(huì)。當(dāng)孩子們?cè)谙硎芩�衣晚�?huì)的時(shí)候，他給自己做了最愛(ài)吃的一頓飯──培根雞肉卷、奶油蘑菇烤四季豆和蒜香吐司──還開了一瓶灰比諾葡萄酒。

Watching the sunset from his back porch, he assessed his progress and asked: 'Am I done?' The answer, he says, was 'Yes.'

哈薩德一邊在自家屋后門廊看著日落，一邊評(píng)估自己的進(jìn)展。他自問(wèn)道：“我恢復(fù)了嗎？”他說(shuō)，答案是“是的”。

'The finish line is only metaphorical until you make it real,' he says. 'And I got there.'

他說(shuō)：“在你真正到達(dá)終點(diǎn)線之前，這條線只是一個(gè)象征性的存在。最終我到達(dá)了終點(diǎn)線�！�