Rather than trapping us in the past, nostalgia can liberate us from adversity by promoting personal growth. These memories can fuel the courage to confront our fears, take reasonable risks and tackle challenges. In developing a retrospective survey of childhood experiences, I found that remembering that we experienced unconditional love as children can reassure us in the present – especially during trying times. Although we’ve become independent and mature (perhaps even a bit jaded), we’re still our parents’ child, our brother’s sibling and our lover’s confidant. Research I’ve conducted since 1998 has shown that nostalgic memories tend to focus on our relationships, which can comfort us during stressful or difficult times. The person who listened to his grandpa’s stories as a little boy, played youth baseball and partied with friends in high school is still that same person today. It can strengthen our sense of personal continuity, reminding us that we possess a store of powerful memories that are deeply intertwined with our identity. In 1985, psychoanalytic theorist Roderick Peters described extreme nostalgia as debilitative, something “that persists and profoundly interferes with the individual’s attempts to cope with his present circumstances.”īut contemporary research, including my own, has contradicted this maladaptive view.Ī 2015 study showed that nostalgic reminiscence can be a stabilizing force. In the past, theorists tended to think of nostalgia as a bad thing – a retreat in the face of uncertainty, stress or unhappiness. In the face of instability, our mind will reach for our positive memories of the past, which tend to be more crystallized than negative or neutral ones. Dislocation or alienation resulting from military conflict, moving to a new country or technological progress can also elicit nostalgia. Longing for our own past is referred to as personal nostalgia, and preferring a distant era is termed historical nostalgia.Īlthough nostalgia is universal, research has shown that a nostalgic yearning for the past is especially likely to occur during periods of transition, like maturing into adulthood or aging into retirement. It’s sweet because it allows us to momentarily relive good times it’s bitter because we recognize that those times can never return. Nostalgia is a bittersweet yearning for the past. (Imagine not knowing if a stone would fall or rise when you let go of it.) Stress can accompany unexpected or extreme change, since our ability to control situations depends upon a reasonable degree of predictability. Change can threaten well-being, especially when it requires a new set of skills to meet new demands. Novelty, meanwhile, is an antidote to boredom, stagnation and satiation. In life, change is the default, not the exception transformation is baked into every aspect of our world, from physical growth to scientific progress. Online messaging and communication have created misunderstanding and divisions, and many feel as though they’ve lost control over their privacy.Ī recent poll even revealed that a majority of Americans think that America’s culture and way of life have mostly changed for the worse since the 1950s.īut what effect does this longing have? Is it a useful psychological tool or a perilous trapping? A bittersweet longing Constantly being plugged into the internet and social media is thought to be associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression.
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