研究发现,怀旧有益身心健康

Of course, memories can also be depressing. Some researchers in the 1970s and '80s suggested that nostalgia could worsen a problem that psychologists call self-discontinuity, which is nicely defined in "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," by Stephen Stills: "Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now." This sense of loss and dislocation has repeatedly been linked to both physical and mental ills.
当然，回忆也可能让人绝望。20世纪七八十年代的研究者们认为，怀旧可以恶化“自我中断”(self-discontinuity)这种疾病。史蒂芬·史提斯（Stephen Stills，美国歌手——译注）在《组曲：朱迪蓝色的眼睛》(Suite: Judy Blue Eyes)中准确地描述了这个问题：“不要让过去来提醒我们现在已不再如此。”这种怅然所失与情绪错位经常与身体或脑部疾病相联系。

But the feeling of discontinuity doesn't seem to be a typical result of nostalgia, according to recent studies. In fact, people tend to have a healthier sense of self-continuity if they nostalgize more frequently, as measured on the scale developed at Southampton. To understand why these memories seem reassuring, Clay Routledge of North Dakota State University and other psychologists conducted a series of experiments with English, Dutch and American adults.
但根据新近研究结果，这种自我中断的感觉并不一定是怀旧体验的结果。事实上，根据南安普顿怀旧量表问卷，如果人们增加怀旧频率，他们会倾向于拥有一种更健康的自我中断情绪。为了了解记忆令人欣慰的原因，北达科他州州立大学(North Dakota State University)的克雷·罗德里奇(Clay Routledge)与其他心理学家在英国、荷兰与美国成人中进行了一系列实验。

First, the experimenters induced nostalgia by playing hit songs from the past for some people and letting them read lyrics to their favorite songs. Afterward, these people were more likely than a control group to say that they felt "loved" and that "life is worth living."
在实验中，部分受试者先听了一些过去的流行歌曲，并读了一些他们所喜爱歌曲的歌词，使他们产生怀旧情绪。相比起对照组，这些受试者更可能感觉“被爱”与“生活有意义”。

Then the researchers tested the effect in the other direction by trying to induce existential angst. They subjected some people to an essay by a supposed Oxford philosopher who wrote that life is meaningless because any single person's contribution to the world is "paltry, pathetic and pointless." Readers of the essay became more likely to nostalgize, presumably to ward off Sartrean despair.
接着，这些研究者尝试唤起受试者的焦虑，以测试怀旧在另一个极端的作用。他们让部分受试者阅读一篇由所谓牛津哲学家写作的文章，文章里讲述因为个人对世界的作用“微不足道、悲惨与无意义”，生活只是虚无。结果表明，文章的读者们更容易产生怀旧情绪，这也许是为了驱赶这种萨特(Sartre)式的绝望。

Moreover, when some people were induced to nostalgia before reading the bleak essay, they were less likely to be convinced by it. The brief stroll down memory lane apparently made life seem worthwhile, at least to the English students in that experiment. (Whether it would work with gloomy French intellectuals remains to be determined.)
另外，如果这些被试者的怀旧情绪被唤起后，再来阅读这篇讨论人生荒凉的文章时，他们比较不容易被作者说服。至少对接受实验的英国学生们而言，在记忆隧道中流连体验能让他们认识到生活的价值。（这是否能对忧郁的法国文人起作用则有待分解。）

"Nostalgia serves a crucial existential function," Dr. Routledge says. "It brings to mind cherished experiences that assure us we are valued people who have meaningful lives. Some of our research shows that people who regularly engage in nostalgia are better at coping with concerns about death."
“怀旧对于存在感至为关键，”斯蒂基特博士说，“它唤起了珍贵的记忆，让我们相信个人的价值，觉得我们拥有有意义的生活。我们的一些研究表明，那些经常沉入怀旧情绪的人更能面对死亡这一概念。”

Feeding the Memory Bank
在记忆银行里储存

The usefulness of nostalgia seems to vary with age, according to Erica Hepper, a psychologist at the University of Surrey in England. She and her colleagues have found that nostalgia levels tend to be high among young adults, then dip in middle age and rise again during old age.
怀旧的效果似乎取决于年龄。这是英国萨里大学(University of Surrey)心理学家爱丽克·何派(Erica Hepper)的研究结果。她和同事发现，年轻人的怀旧程度相对较高，中年人程度偏低，而老年人则又重新回到较高的怀旧程度中。

"Nostalgia helps us deal with transitions," Dr. Hepper says. "The young adults are just moving away from home and or starting their first jobs, so they fall back on memories of family Christmases, pets and friends in school."
“怀旧可以帮助我们面对生活的转折期。”何派博士说，“当年轻人刚刚搬离家乡，开始他们第一份工作时，他们会沉浸于圣诞节家庭团聚、宠物和学校朋友的回忆里。”

Dr. Sedikides, now 54, still enjoys nostalgizing about Chapel Hill, although his range has expanded greatly over the past decade. He says that the years of research have inspired strategies for increasing nostalgia in his own life. One is to create more moments that will be memorable.
斯蒂基特博士现在54岁了，他依然很享受对美国教堂山城的怀旧，虽然他的怀旧范围已经在过去十年中被大大扩展了。他说，多年的研究给予他一些启发，以增加自己生活中的怀旧对象，其中一项是：创造更多值得回忆的时光。

"I don't miss an opportunity to build nostalgic-to-be memories," he says. "We call this anticipatory nostalgia and have even started a line of relevant research."
“我不愿意错过任何机会，以制造值得怀旧的记忆。”他说，“我们管这个叫可预期的怀旧，我们甚至已经开始这个相关研究了。”

Another strategy is to draw on his "nostalgic repository" when he needs a psychological lift or some extra motivation. At such moments, he tries to focus on the memories and savor them without comparing them with anything else.
斯蒂基特博士从研究中还得到了另一个启发。当他需要让自己快乐起来，或者需要一些心理激励时，他便从其“怀旧储备”中汲取能量。在这样的时刻里，他会试着让自己专注于回忆，细细品尝往事，而不去将它们与其他事情做对比。

"Many other people," he explains, "have defined nostalgia as comparing the past with the present and saying, implicitly, that the past was better — ‘Those were the days.' But that may not be the best way for most people to nostalgize. The comparison will not benefit, say, the elderly in a nursing home who don't see their future as bright. But if they focus on the past in an existential way — ‘What has my life meant?' — then they can potentially benefit."
“许多其他人，”他解释道，“将怀旧定义为用往事与现状对比，然后自我暗示地认为过去的生活更美好，感叹着‘那些年'。”但对于大多数人而言，这都不是最好的怀旧方法。比如当老年人在养老院里对比现状与过往，这并无法让他们觉得未来无限美好。但如果他们将往事看成一种人生存在的方式，思考‘我的生活意味着什么？'，他们则可能从怀旧中获益。

This comparison-free nostalgizing is being taught to first-year college students as part of a study testing its value for people in difficult situations. Other experiments are using the same technique in people in nursing homes, women recovering from cancer surgery, and prison inmates.
这种不做对比的怀旧已经作为研究的一部分，用于一年级本科生，以测试人们在不同情况下时怀旧的作用。其他实验则采用相同的方法，用以测试养老院中的老人、刚从癌症手术中恢复的妇女与监狱的囚犯。

Is there anyone who shouldn't be indulging in nostalgia? People who are leery of intimate relationships — "avoidant," in psychological jargon — seem to reap relatively small benefits from nostalgia compared with people who crave closeness. And there are undoubtedly neurotics who overdo it. But for most others, Dr. Sedikides recommends regular exercises.
有没有完全无法陷入怀旧的人呢？有的，相比起渴望亲近的人，那些对亲密关系持怀疑态度的人便在怀旧中收获较少，他们在心理学术语中被称为“回避型人格”。当然也有神经病患者会过分沉浸于怀旧之中。然而对大部分人而言，斯蒂基特博士建议我们可以对此做有规律的练习。

"If you're not neurotic or avoidant, I think you'll benefit by nostalgizing two or maybe three times a week," he says. "Experience it as a prized possession. When Humphrey Bogart says, ‘We'll always have Paris,' that's nostalgia for you. We have it, and nobody can take it away from us. It's our diamond."
如果你没有神经机能病，也没有回避型人格，我觉得如果你一周怀旧两到三次，会对你有帮助。”他说：“将怀旧的体验作为一种珍贵的经历，亨弗莱·鲍嘉(Humphrey Bogart)说：‘我们会永远拥有巴黎'（电影《卡萨布兰卡》的经典台词——译注）时，怀旧便是我们的‘巴黎'。我们拥有这些记忆，没有人能将它们夺去。这是我们的无价之宝。”