In 1988 a TV writer called Alex Carswell threw a pen at a photo of his mother after a stressful phone call with his boss. It gave him an idea. It was the “Age of Stress” and so the perfect time for Carswell to launch his “stress ball”.
1988 年一位名叫亞歷克斯·卡斯維爾的電視編劇在跟老板打了一通頗有壓力的電話后，朝他母親的照片扔了一支鋼筆。這讓他產生了一個想法。那是一個“充滿壓力的年代”，因此也是卡斯維爾推出“壓力球”的最佳時機。
If the 80s were the age of stress, this is the age of anxiety, with 30% of Britons experiencing an anxiety disorder during their lifetime. This has created a market for domestic anxiety cures that can be bought online, and fast.
如果說 80 年代是充滿壓力的時代，那么現今就是一個焦慮的時代。30%的英國人一生中得過一次焦慮癥。這就給家用焦慮治療法創造了市場，而這些療法在網上就可以快速買到。
Consider the squishy. That repeated action led to fidget spinners becoming one of the most popular items bought on Amazon in 2017. They were not simply triangles of plastic; they were a stress-relief toy. They were the stars of a growing anxiety economy.
想想像捏捏樂那樣的玩具吧。而同時，那種重復性的動作使得指尖陀螺成為了 2017 年亞馬遜最受歡迎的商品之一。指尖陀螺不單是塑料三角形物體；它們是一種解壓玩具，是日益增長的焦慮經濟中的明星產品。
Alongside products designed purely as medical aids, such as meditation apps, there is a thriving offshoot of lifestyle goods marketed through their anxiety-relieving qualities. Product innovation oriented around anxiety spans nearly 30 different categories, including chocolate, yogurt and air fresheners.
除了像冥想應用這類純粹作為醫療輔助工具而設計出的產品之外，還有一類正在蓬勃發展的衍生品，它們是一些以緩解焦慮為營銷手段的生活方式類產品。針對焦慮的產品創新橫跨接近 30 個不同品類，包括巧克力、酸奶以及空氣清新劑。
Is anxiety itself being commodified?
“焦慮”本身是否正在被商品化了？
Dr Nihara Krause, founder of youth mental health charity Stem4, said, “The market seems saturated. There are a number of companies that are trading on fake news to promote a whole range of products that are meant to help with mental health problems but without any evidence base to them. Given that we are dealing with a vulnerable population it is questionable how ethical producing these tools without evidence base and systematic review of efficacy is.”
青少年心理健康慈善機構 Stem4 的創始人，尼哈拉·克勞斯博士表示：“這個市場似乎已經飽和了。許多公司利用假新聞來推銷一系列旨在幫助解決心理健康問題的產品，但沒有任何事實依據能證明它們確實有效。考慮到我們面對的是一個脆弱的人群，沒有以證據為基礎和對療效進行系統性評估就生產這些工具，是否合乎道德呢？這值得懷疑。”
