Written by Dilvin Lacin
History of Nostalgia:
Nostalgia is a word that is consisting of νόστος (nóstos), meaning "homecoming", and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "sorrow" or "despair". The word nostalgia was first used in an article by a Swiss medical student named Johannes Hofer in 1688. Hofer defined nostalgia as a sad mood resulting from the desire to return to one's home country.
Nostalgia was first categorized as a disease. It is argued that those people who suffered from nostalgia produced faulty representations that caused them to lose touch with the present. Homesickness had become their only obsession. The patients looked lifeless and sad and indifferent. They confused the past with the present, the real and the imaginary.
Many opinions have been put forward regarding nostalgia. Some psychologists thought that nostalgia revealed the distress of those who wanted to return to the fetal period. Theodore Calhoun, a military doctor, defined nostalgia as a shameful illness that reveals old attitudes. According to Calhoun, nostalgia is a mental illness and a sign of weak will. Nostalgia, which was considered a "disease" at the time and thought to be treated, is now seen as a source of happiness that feeds people from the past [2, 5].
Is nostalgia a disease?:
“When people are asked to describe something that makes them feel very nostalgic, the positive elements dominate,” “They think of a pleasant past experience, and the memories they bring to mind have a positive influence on how they see their own life.” David B. Newman said [3].
Nowadays, when many people hear the concept of nostalgia, they feel happy because of the good memories they had in the past. Because, in fact, this concept reminds us of the past and good times. So this feeling is not a disease that needs to be corrected, and it is not included in official catalogs like the DSM-5, which must be included for a health condition to be a disease!
As scientists and psychologists began to study this mental phenomenon, it seemed that nostalgia not only came from sadness or longing but often from a desire to reflect on happy memories of the past. Nostalgia is no longer seen as a symptom of depression, as it used to be, on the contrary, nostalgia is now thought to be a defense mechanism against depression [4, 5].
The Effect of Nostalgia on People:
Nostalgic emotions, like other emotions, cause different chemical reactions in the brain. For example, while the feeling of joy causes the secretion of hormones such as serotonin and dopamine, which cause happiness in the brain, it has been observed that nostalgia creates a similar reaction in the mind. Cristina de Balanzo, a researcher at Walnut Unlimited, said in an article on nostalgia that nostalgic experiences activate various parts of the brain [2].
In another experiment with FMRI, nostalgia activates parts of the brain involved in detecting novelty and, as it binds to respond positively to new and unfamiliar stimuli, forgotten memories provided a double reward for both familiarity and novelty.
Many more experiments have been done, such as the one I mentioned above. One of the results of another experiment is that you experience nostalgia not because of a longing for a particular memory, but because of an emotional period in your life. When you feel sad, anxious, lost, or confused, remembering a past life period can help lift your spirits and remind you that there were good times in the past, reminding you that you can have good times again. The opposite of what the scientific community once believed, nostalgia can actually help reduce stress, extend lifespan, and increase feelings of hope and optimism [2].
Although we have talked about the positive effects of nostalgia so far, it is useful to mention the negative effects as well.
The USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences team conducted several studies that determined how often people feel nostalgic in everyday life and how intense their emotions are. 230 undergraduate students were asked to fill out daily questionnaires for 14 days. These questionnaires included questions about daily work, whether they had positive or negative interactions with acquaintances, academic achievements, or whether they had negative moments such as falling behind in class. They also asked participants whether they had experienced events that could potentially evoke feelings of nostalgia.
After the experiment, it was concluded that people are likely to feel nostalgic when things go wrong. "These negative experiences colored nostalgia in a negative way," Newman said. On days when people feel nostalgic, they feel more stressed, depressed, and lonely; It was determined that they were more prone to regret and deep reflection [3].
To summarize our article, we discussed the origin of nostalgia, the thoughts of people about nostalgia in the past, and how it affects us today. As can be seen, nostalgia, which affects us both well and badly, is a subject that is still being researched and has not been fully agreed upon yet.
References:
Balanzo, Cristina (2020, September 14). The science behind nostalgia, how brands can use it and why it works. Walnut unlimited https://walnutunlimited.com/the-science-behind-nostalgia-how-brands-can-use-it-and-why-it-works/
Burhanoglu, Sabri (2020, May 17). Nostalji ve Psikiyatri https://www.sabriburhanoglu.com/nostalji-ve-psikiyatri
Gersema, Emily (2019, April 3). What triggers nostalgia? Feelings of unhappiness, USC Dornsife study finds. USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters Art and Science https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/unhappiness-triggers-nostalgia/
Sahin, Damla (2021, November 7). Nostalji Nedir? Geçmişe Duyulan Hasret, Bir Hastalık Olabilir mi?. Evrim Agacı https://evrimagaci.org/nostalji-nedir-gecmise-duyulan-hasret-bir-hastalik-olabilir-mi-9578
Staughton, John (2022, July 8). Why Do People Feel Nostalgic And How Does It Affect Them?. ScienceABC https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/science-of-nostalgia-disease-effects-depression-memories.html
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