|
Nostalgia – Healthy Or Unhealthy? We all have had ‘turning points’ in our lives that we can reflect back on– those occasions, perhaps, when one chapter of our life ended and the next commenced, whether or not this was whatwe wished. We can also be nostalgic about the past, and this is by no means always a bad thing; far from aimless ‘escapism’, nostalgia can be a very useful emotion that enables us to better deal with loneliness and loss. However, it is also true that we can spend so much time reminiscing about supposed ‘Golden Eras’ of our lives that we become stuck and unable to move forward. Your Former Life Wasn’t Always Glorious Nostalgia canhave a powerful hold on us and, if we are not careful,it can cause us to romanticise the past. Think back to a time when you felt happy and fulfilled – and then everything suddenly changed. Perhaps it was when you left the familiarity of school life for the turbulence of entering the job market for the first time; or maybe you were enjoying a certain richly rewarding career that you were forced to leave owing to unexpected or unwanted circumstances, such as the need to care for a family member. Whatever the situation, if you feel that your life has become poorer since those days, you may be greatly romanticising that period - or even thinking of your life as having been perfect during that time. Not only is your former life unlikely to have been consistently perfect, easy or glorious, feeling bad about your present life prevents you from having new positive experiences. I’m sure that when you think back, you will remember that, in reality, everything did not always go well; almost certainly you will also have experienced stresses, sadness and setbacks. Nostalgia Isn’t Always Unhealthy – But Needs To Be Kept In Check There’s nothing wrong with being nostalgic from time to time. Research findings suggest that nostalgia can have a wide range of benefits that include boosting self-esteem, finding meaning in life and even offsetting feelings of loneliness. The right attitude to nostalgia can make you feel more, rather than less confident about your future. However, dwelling excessively on the past can cause you to become locked into a nostalgic state of mind that is not healthy. We all need to be able to lay the past to rest and create new memories for our ‘Nostalgia Well’, positive experiences that we will be able to be nostalgic about in days to come, and we can only do that when we have a present-centred state of mind that prepares us, socially and emotionally, for our future. Time does not stand still and we need to embrace the time we have. To address concerns you may have about your life, book an appointment for short-term or Long-Term Psychotherapy with me, Tamar Posner. Please Get In Touch With Me Online or call 07710 01 99 33.
Related Articles -
Psychotherapist London, Psychotherapist in Marylebone,
| 
