Nostalgia: what it is, characteristics and functions of this feeling.

Let's see what characterizes the psychological state of nostalgia and why it makes us feel this way.

We have all experienced nostalgia on more than one occasion. It is a feeling that arises when we look back and remember good times, times in our lives when we were happy, or at least that is what we believe now.

When we went out with a boyfriend or girlfriend, when we played in the park with our friends, when we had lunch on Saturdays at our grandmother's house... there are many "quandos" that evoke nostalgic experiences.

What is nostalgia? Is it useful? Can it be a problem? These are some of the questions that we are going to solve next.

What is nostalgia?

Nostalgia is a feeling anchored in the past, in fact, it is understood as the longing for a better time.. This emotion is experienced when we feel sorrow, sadness and melancholy towards our homeland when we are far away from it, we feel the absence of our loved ones, we miss someone who died or we remember an object that was very valuable to us. It is wanting a past time to be revived. It is nostalgia that speaks when it is said that the past times were always better...

Its etymology offers us a good description of the feeling that nostalgia implies. It comes from the combination of the Greek words νόστος (nóstos), meaning "return," and the suffix -αλγία (-algia), meaning "pain.". Thus nostalgia is the "return to pain", a Pain that is the result of remembering times when we were happier, or at least that is what we believe.

Although today we see nostalgia as a feeling that arises when thinking about those good times that are part of the past, there was a time when it was considered a mental pathology or, more in line with the thinking of the time, a disease of the soul, there was a time when it was considered a mental pathology or, more in line with the thinking of the time, a disease of the soul.. This word first appeared in a medical degree thesis in 1688. Its author, Johannes Hofer, described this emotion as an illness, a clinical picture manifested by students attending the academy in Basel who longed for their hometown.

In the 19th century the term nostalgia was no longer used to refer to a supposed mental illness, although it was considered a possible symptom of a mental disorder. This, in fact, is partly true of certain disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders. With the passage of time the term was used to refer simply to any situation in which the past was missed, in a melancholic way and longing to relive those better times, taking away its pathological character.The term was used in a melancholic way and longing to relive those better times, removing the pathological character with which the term had been conceived.

Today we know that nostalgia is a state of mind whose experience is not pathological in itself. In fact, we could see it as a defense mechanism, an escape route from an often complex and troubled present.. It can even improve our mood, recalling our strengths and attitudes in the past that contributed to make that time so happy. Nostalgia helps us to understand that there have been good precedents in our life history, moments in which we have learned what to do to move forward and that have served us to grow as people.

However, it also has its downside, since living too many times this emotion can involve navigating feelings of loneliness, lack of meaning in life and disconnection from those around us.. It can cause us to get stuck in the past, forgetting what exists is the now.

What is the utility of nostalgia?

It may be that for many people nostalgia is no longer just another element in our emotional repertoire. However, the truth is that every emotion and feeling has its meaning and usefulness, and nostalgia is no exception to this. If we live it in a healthy way, this state of mind captivates us in the glorious past, helping us to be aware of the good that was in it and to see what was going so well at that time, but without trapping us in it and making us forget that the present, if it is not lived, is lost..

The potential usefulness of nostalgia has been addressed by science. An example of this can be found in the 2006 study by Wildschut and colleagues, published in the Journal of personality and Social PsychologyThe conclusion of this study was that people tend to experience this state as a motivation, something that pushes us to keep going at a given moment in our lives. a motivation, something that pushes us to move forward at a given moment in our lives.. It is an emotion that brings with it the feeling of a vital impulse that tells us to "go ahead". Thus, this emotion would have both a psychological and an emotional purpose, two fundamental aspects of motivation.

Another example of an approach to the usefulness of nostalgia can be found in the work of Svetlana Boym. In her book "The Future of Nostalgia" (2001), the author exposes the existence of two types of nostalgia: restorative and reflective..

Restorative nostalgia would have an emotional purpose, being the one in which one tries to return to the past because one sees in it a moment of happiness and well-being, something opposed to what the person is living in his or her immediate present or after having had a bad experience.

On the other hand, reflective nostalgia, in which one also returns to the past, does not necessarily occur after having had an unpleasant experience in the present but with the intention of learning from the past to make the present a better moment. It is looking at the past but valuing the here and now.

In addition to this, other authors consider that nostalgia could have the following three main functions.

1. Emotional preparation

Nostalgia prepares us for new experiences, but similar to those we have already lived in the past. Here, this feeling is complemented by expectation, filling us with enthusiasm and excitement for what we hope for, trusting that it will go as well as it did in the past.trusting that it will go as well as it did in the past.

Remembering past experiences in which we were successful and imagining the future in which we will use the same strategies makes us feel stronger and more confident. It is easier to fulfill a goal or a dream if we associate it emotionally with a past success, seeing that we were capable, that there are satisfactory antecedents in our life history.

2. Behavioral activation

As long as we feel nostalgia in a healthy way, this experience can make us more active. How? By remembering the past we feel that there are things in it that we no longer have in the present. This can motivate us to get going, to try to bring back the things we miss..

We may feel nostalgic about playing sports, painting, bowling or any other activity. When we feel this emotion, it invites us to return to old habits, to stop allowing time to go by without us doing anything. Whether it is something old or something new, the point is to feel again that happiness of the past by doing something that fulfills us in the present.

• You might be interested in, "Types of memory: how does the brain store memories?"

3. Strengthens social relationships

Nostalgia helps many friendships to last thanks to the fact that, after spending some time apart or not knowing anything about each other, two friends value the good times they had, two friends cherish the good times they had together..

This emotion makes people focus on the good and downplay the bad that happened in the past. Whether it's two friends, two old boyfriends, family members or any kind of social relationship between two people, reminiscing about the past helps them connect with each other once they see each other again.

Dangers and disadvantages of this feeling

As we have seen, nostalgia is an emotion that helps us to value the past in order to face the present, either by applying strategies that went well for us before or to try new things.

It is a feeling that makes us feel good to see that we were once happy, which can help us to see what was going well in the past. can help us to see what was going well in our lives back then and what we can apply to our present to make the most of it..

However, it is also true that dwelling on the past has its disadvantages. If it traps us, it may prevent us from innovating, it may sabotage our drive to grow as individuals and advance in our working, emotional and social lives.. It can become a danger because we will stop valuing our present, taking refuge in a past that we consider glorious while we do practically nothing to change our here and now.

This emotion becomes a problem when it distorts our view of the present and the past, belittling the one and idealizing the other.. As a result, we let go of many positive things that happen in our present by remembering over and over again moments that, although they were happy, no longer exist. The past is past. We must find a balance, learning to live in the present while using nostalgia to motivate us to move forward into the future.