“数绵羊入睡”是一种古老的方法，通常用于帮助人们入睡，其原理在于让无法入睡的人进行无限只羊的想像，想像中一只只绵羊从矮栅栏上跳过，每跳一只就数一个数，如此无限延续下去，直到数羊者因为重复的单调、无聊的活动而在不知不觉中入眠。这种方法被认为是催眠的方法之一。但是数绵羊入睡有科学依据可遵循吗？来读读本文找找答案吧。
Trying to imagine fat, fuzzy white lambs, jumping one by one over a fence, is a well-known solution to sleeplessness. I don’t have insomnia (失眠) often, but I’ve often wondered just who came up with such a silly suggestion and why decided on sheep.
试着想象胖胖的、毛茸茸的白羊羔一只接一只地跳过篱笆，这是一个众所周知的解决失眠的方法。我不经常失眠，但我经常想知道是谁想出了这样一个愚蠢的建议，为什么决定用羊。
History supposedly provides the answer: It was said to be a way for medieval shepherds (中世纪的牧羊人), completely lacking in human company for weeks at a time, to fall asleep each night — they counted their sheep until drowsy . Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know.
历史可能提供了答案：据说这是中世纪牧羊人每天晚上入睡的一种方式，他们一连几周完全没有人陪伴——他们数羊直到昏昏欲睡。这是真是假，我不知道。
So does counting sheep really help you fall asleep? Search online, and you’ll soon find stories about a 2022 study on combating insomnia that put the concept to the test. However, that wasn’t the point of the research, said senior author Allison Harvey. “Our study more than 20 years ago wasn’t about counting sheep; it was just about using imagery to fight insomnia,” said Harvey, who conducted the research while a professor of psychology at Oxford University.
数羊真的能帮助你入睡吗？在网上搜索，你很快就会发现2022年一项关于对抗失眠的研究的故事，该研究对这一概念进行了测试。然而，资深作者艾莉森·哈维说，这并不是这项研究的重点。“我们20多年前的研究不是关于数羊；这只是用想象来对抗失眠，”哈维说，他是牛津大学心理学教授，同时也是这项研究的负责人。
Her research split 50 people into three groups, Harvey said. The first had no instructions on how to fall asleep, while members of the second were told to distract from thoughts, worries and concerns in any way they wanted. The third group was instructed to perform an interesting and engaging imagery task, such as creating or remembering a meadow, a waterfall, a holiday or a summer afternoon in the sun. Those who used imagery reported falling asleep much faster than either of the two other groups, and they rated their thoughts, worries and concerns to be less uncomfortable and upsetting than people in the distraction or no instruction group.
哈维说，她的研究将50人分成了三组。第一组没有关于如何入睡的指导，而第二组的成员被告知可以用任何他们想要的方式来转移他们的想法、焦虑和担忧。第三组被要求完成一项有趣而引人入胜的想象任务，比如创造或记忆一片草地、一个瀑布、一个假期或一个夏日阳光下的下午。那些使用想象的人入睡的速度比其他两组快得多，他们认为自己的想法、焦虑和担忧比分心组或无指导组的人更能减少不舒服和不安。
As it happened, two of the study participants in the distraction group did count sheep as a way to fall asleep “and somehow people developed a strong interest in that, I guess because they thought it was fun,” Harvey said. While she didn’t actually study counting sheep as a way of overcoming insomnia (and isn’t aware of any other studies to do so), Harvey does have an opinion based on her years as a sleep specialist.
碰巧的是，分心组的两名研究参与者确实把数羊作为一种入睡的方式，“不知怎的，人们对此产生了浓厚的兴趣，我猜是因为他们觉得这很有趣，”哈维说。虽然哈维并没有将数羊作为一种克服失眠的方法进行研究，但根据她多年的睡眠专家经验，她确实有自己的看法。
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