WhenNostalgia Backfires
The photo was taken by Constance Bannister Corp. Does reminiscing help us or hold us back?
There are other people looking to the past for comfort right now. A study from KU Leuven, a university in Belgium, found a significant increase in nostalgic consumption of music on the platform. The University of Central Lancashire in the U.K. categorized the feeling of nostalgia as one of the benefits of viewing nature via a webcam during a shutdown. A June 2020 paper from the university recommended people use nostalgia as a way to cope with the shutdown. The study offered an array of nostalgia-based tips to battle the corona blues, such as replaying famous sporting events, classic films, and notable concerts from the past, playing traditional board games with friends and family, or baking bread and making fresh.
Sophia Yen, a California-based MD, has become familiar with the sight of her husband baking bread. He will spend hours in the kitchen doing what has now become a family event, as their youngest daughter loves to join to pat and push the dough together. The couple listens to music they listened to when they were high school sweethearts. Take on Me by a-ha, and Michael Jackson! The Princess Bride and Fast Times were read to us at Ridgemont High. The co- founder of a birth control delivery startup says that he and his team are so stressed out right now that they are able to relax. She1-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-6556
The modern definition of nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations The June paper was co-authored by Gregory Ramshaw, PhD, an associate professor at the university. It is a reflection of a stable and positive past, and that for a lot of people it can help calm their fears during the Pandemic. Science has already labeled nostalgia a deeply social emotion, something perhaps best experienced with others. Watching the Queen come out to carry out her duties in Great Britain encourages people to get together and watch old films together. For a lot of people, nostalgia is a reflection of a stable, positive past, and that can help calm fears during the Pandemic.
The past can hurt in modern times. Noel Hunter, PsyD, clinical psychologist and author of Trauma and Madness in Mental Health Services, has observed that the majority of people struggling with the ongoing shutdown are people who are clinging to the past, wishing things would go back to normal. The original meaning of nostalgia may be a bit less warm and fuzzy. Between the 17th and 19th century, nostalgia was considered a disorder of the mind and sufferers were sent to the countryside to heal.
Staying present is the antidote, Hunter says, letting go of what we can’t change and finding ways to bring joy, pleasure, meaning, and purpose to the here and now. The act of being focused on the present moment is what is behind the concept of being focused on the present moment. Buddhists tell us that focusing on the past or future can bring about great suffering.
Hunter says that they try to cheer themselves up by remembering happier times of the past. Reminiscing creates more misery as they blame themselves for setbacks and are not able to accept limitations. She says that in doing so they become angry, anxious, and depressed, with their brains literally fighting the present reality by trying to wish away what is.
Sean G says that nostalgia reminds people how they felt at the time, so it helps to remind them how to perceive the future more positively. Hunter is seeing people in her practice who are experiencing negative effects that seem to be counter to the research on the benefits of nostalgia. It could be that they are not thinking about reminiscing with the right mindset.
The majority of people who are struggling with the ongoing shutdown are people who are clinging to the past, wishing things would go back to normal and not what they are. Hunter is not opposed to finding pleasure in reminiscing and remembering fond times. She says there is a reason why we keep pictures, videos, and mementos of past joys.
In California, she is juggling her career and family life, but her company is doing well. She has been strained by the shutdown. If my video is not working or my volume goes down, I may not be able to get money for my company. A child may be screaming in the background. She doesn’t want to go back to the time when she and her husband had to pull an all nighter every week at MIT. She says they want to go forward.
Hunter suggests that we are creating memories now. She points out that the paper says we should consider if we are creating our own future nostalgia. She says that we could eventually be grateful that we stayed present and appreciated what we have now. Humans have lived for tens of thousands of years and have survived.
She has found that experiencing nostalgia with her family has been a way to cope. They picked out the memories they associate with happiness and flushed the bleakness out of their lives. The whole family will enjoy her favorite childhood movies, and her husband will continue baking bread. There is no color. While listening to a song, Yen said it was just gray. I think I will be nostalgic forever.
Was this helpful?
0 / 0