Success addicts

"Success addicts" choose being special over being happy

对成功“上瘾”的人，宁愿放弃快乐，也要活得特别

Though it isn't a conventional medical addiction, for many people success has addictive properties. To a certain extent, praise stimulates the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is implicated in all addictive behaviors.

虽然“成功”并不属于传统意义上的医学成瘾症，但对很多人来说，它具备一些让人上瘾的特性。从某种程度上说，人们的赞美刺激了神经递质多巴胺的分泌，而多巴胺正是所有成瘾行为背后的“元凶”。

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The desire for success may be inherent to human nature, but specialness doesn't come cheap. Success is brutal work, and it requires sacrifices. In the 1980s, the physician Robert Goldman famously found that more than half of aspiring athletes would be willing to take a drug that would kill them in five years in exchange for winning every competition they entered.

对成功的渴望可能是人类与生俱来的，然而，想成为特殊的存在并没有那么容易。成功是一项残酷的劳动，它要求人们作出牺牲。上世纪 80 年代，罗伯特·戈德曼医生的一则发现世人皆知：有半数以上胸怀壮志的运动员，都愿意服用一种药物，以换取他们所参加的每场比赛的胜利。这种药物能在五年内，致人于死地。

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Unfortunately, success is Sisyphean. The goal can't be satisfied; most people never feel "successful enough." The high only lasts a day or two, and then it's on to the next goal. Psychologists call this the hedonic treadmill, in which satisfaction wears off almost immediately and we must run on to the next reward to avoid the feeling of falling behind.***

不幸的是，成功是永无止境的。最终的目标难以实现，大多数人永远都不会觉得自己“足够成功”。成功带来的兴奋感只会持续一两天，然后（人们）就会开始追逐下一个目标。心理学家称这样的现象为“享乐跑步机”，在这个过程中，满足感几乎立刻就会消失，我们必须跑向下一个“奖赏”，才不会觉得自己已经落后于他人。

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People should get off the treadmill. But quitting isn't easy for addicts. For people hooked on substances, withdrawal can be an agonizing experience, both physically and psychologically.

人们应该从这种“跑步机”上下来，但对上瘾的人来说，放弃并不是件易事。对于那些吸毒成瘾的人而言，戒毒的过程对身、心都是一种痛苦的经历。

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A research finds that depression and anxiety are common among elite athletes after their careers end. Olympic athletes, in particular, suffer from the "post-Olympic blues."

一项研究发现，精英运动员在职业生涯结束之后，普遍会感到抑郁和焦虑。尤其是参加奥运会的运动员，他们备受“奥运后忧郁症”的困扰。

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Success in and of itself is not a bad thing, any more than wine is a bad thing. Both can bring fun and sweetness to life. But both become tyrannical when they are a substitute for — instead of a complement to — the relationships and love that should be at the center of our lives.

成功本身并不是一件坏事，正如葡萄酒也不全然是不好的东西，两者都能给生活带来快乐和甜蜜。但当它们成为我们生命中的核心——人际关系与爱的替代品，而不是补给品时，它们就会展露出残暴的狰狞面孔。

主编：Eein

品控：Pita

审核：夏天

Photo credit:

By Jynto (talk) - Own work, created with Discovery Studio Visualizer., CC0

重点词汇

addict

/ˈæd.ɪkt/

n. 对……入迷的人，……迷

词根词缀：-aholic（表示“……迷”）

Success addicts

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