Is it true that the counting of sheep helps to fall asleep faster?

Imagine and count the lambs, in turn jumping over the fence, is considered a good way to cope with insomnia. We decided to check whether the effectiveness of such a methodology is confirmed by scientific data.

The calculation of sheep as a way to combat insomnia is described in numerous media (for example, in "Komsomolsky Pravda" And "Arguments and facts"), meets in artistic literature and cinema. On the Internet you can even find instructionsHow to properly consider these artnic groups. In particular, Wikihow website Offers This option: “Imagine a night sky with small, but bright stars and crescents. Imagine a white fence in front of a hill. Draw in your imagination white, fluffy and round sheep. Imagine that sheep one after another, without stopping, jump over the white fence. ” In some sources sheep Allowed Replace with other animals: lamas, camels or elephants. SupposedThat such a technique went from the shepherds, who, making sure that all the animals are in place, calmly fell asleep.

By calculations Scientists, about 10% of the adult population of the planet suffer from chronic insomnia, another 30-50% have episodic sleep problems. Reasons Insomnias are diverse: incorrect conditions for falling asleep, neglect of sleep hygiene, stress, illness, including mental, taking some medicinal and narcotic drugs. Small work can also provoke a change in sleep, a frequent change in time zones and Light pollution - The light of the city night sky by artificial lighting sources. Insomnia is a dangerous disease, lack of sleep leads to worsening short -term and long -term memory, Raises The risk of cardiovascular diseases, provokes problems with osteogenesis (bone tissue formation), leads to excess weight, launching various metabolic Violations. There is even Fatal insomnia - A rare hereditary disease with a 100 % death.

Therefore, the methods of overcoming this unpleasant and dangerous state for the body occupy many scientists. In 2002, a group of researchers from Oxford University Spent Comparative analysis of different falling asleep techniques. 41 volunteers suffering from insomnia took part in the experiment. Scientists divided the volunteers into three groups, having previously calculated the time that the participants needed to fall asleep. Then the researchers asked the first group in the process of falling asleep to consider the sheep in the mind, the second - to represent different landscapes (forest, waterfall, stream, etc.), and the third group was control, the participants did not receive any instructions from the experimenters and fell asleep as they were familiar.

The technique of the imagination of nature turned out to be the most effective - representing the pacifying landscapes, the volunteers fell asleep on average 20 minutes faster than at the night when they did not represent anything. At the same time, those who counted the sheep could not dive into sleep longer than on other nights, when no calculation of the greenhouses was carried out. Alison Harvey, one of the scientists who conducted the experiment, Summarizes: “The imagination of a beautiful landscape is occupied by the brain better than the same dirty old sheep. Moreover, the landscape is easier to hold in the head, because it is more interesting. ”

The conclusions of scientists are relatively beneficial for the picturesque nature on sleep confirms another study. It studied thoughts and images that come to mind before going to bedtime for those who sleep well, and those who have problems with falling asleep. It turned out that people suffering from insomnia are less likely to imagine landscapes, but think mainly about household worries and things that they did during the day.

Psychologist Diane Richards from Australia, who is studying sleep, also speaks of the uselessness and even harmfulness of the calculation of various mammals before going to bed. On her opinion, the calculation as such can provoke additional stress, and jumping sheep can have excessive stimulating effect on the brain. “If you just admired the calmly standing sheep, you imagined the softness of their wool, it would probably be better,” Richards believes.

Zootechnik experimental station of the US Department of Agriculture Bret Taylor agree With the conclusions of psychologists: “I once tried to count sheep, and this did not help me quickly fall asleep. In principle, it is difficult for me to imagine sheep jumping over the fence, the sheep alone does not do this until you force them. ” 

Instead of counting sheep, Harvard Medical School experts Offer More effective and proven ways to fall asleep. To normalize a dream, you need to go to bed and wake up at the same time, stop using electronic devices two hours before bedtime, create a comfortable environment for sleeping - quiet and dark place, and also do not engage in any extraneous matters in the bed. If disturbing thoughts do not fall asleep, scientists offer to write them out on paper, as well as use the techniques of relaxation and normalization of breathing. 

Thus, the counting of the sheep, perhaps, reassured our passwords so that they instantly fell into a dream, but by a modern person, the paired-chosen ones, jumping over the fence, will not help to fall asleep faster, rather, they will even interfere. But if you imagine a stream running through the forest or a beautiful waterfall, then the long -awaited dream can come much earlier. 

Not true

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