**TL;DR Nostalgia can be helpful- if it's the right sort.** In 17th century, Swiss mercenaries were diagnosed with homesickness. This is a loan translation. The word, as it was first coined by physician Johannes Hofer, is nostalgia. It’s still a yearning for the familiar. The longing we have for that which we’ve lost is typified by a sight; a smell, a sound, a place. The formative parts of a memory become so inextricably bound with an emotion- retrospectively imposed or otherwise- that they themselves bear significance. Acknowledging that the moment you are living in is fleeting makes it all the more precious. It’s hard to do. In the midst of day to day responsibilities; future plans and looming disasters the present is just one more step towards the next Big Thing. Nostalgia is comforting because the memories are an island- nothing imminent or incoming. This isn’t an inherently bad thing, though. Author Svetlana Boym draws a distinction between two different forms of nostalgia- “restorative” and “reflective”.(3) Remembering that passed time and wanting to rebuild it is unachievable: as much as there might be a little pearl of happiness inside that memory, the escapable fact is that you can never truly recapture that moment in time. Remembering it fondly because it has passed gives the opportunity to accept it as a part of your past and of yourself, instead of a missing thing to be restored. In this sense it can become a steadying point. Discussing the outcomes of contemporary studies in nostalgia; Professor of Psychology Krystine Batcho elucidates: “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.”(4) - 1. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/when-nostalgia-was-a-disease/278648/ 2. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-wisdom-of-insecurity_b_9250312 3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/time-travelling-apollo/201606/the-two-faces-nostalgia 4. https://theconversation.com/the-psychological-benefits-and-trappings-of-nostalgia-77766

**TL;DR – Though it's cloudy in the moment, nostalgia can provide a lot of clarity and reflection in the digital age.** In the late 1800s, Russian physicists recommended that those who showed “symptoms” of nostalgia should be buried alive. The fleeting moment that we are all too familiar with today was treated like a disease at one point in history. Once it became known through philosophy and theory, nostalgia took an entirely different form – it was considered less of an individual condition and more so a disordered pattern of thought in regards to being homesick. Nietzsche stated in *The Birth of Tragedy*: “One is no longer home anywhere, so in the end one longs to be back where one can somehow be at home because it is the only place where one would wish to be at home.” It acknowledged nostalgia as a perspective that comes from an outside force. Writer David Berry mentions, it’s a “reaction to the modern condition.” Where I believe nostalgia becomes effective is in considering the modern implication of it. Rather than referring to homesickness that brings you back to a place, the general consensus seems to be that nostalgia brings you back to a time. It’s especially great now because we are so digitally in-tune that having a fleeting moment of feeling is rather refreshing even if technology helps to get us there. Berry notes, “As artifacts and representations of the past have become easier to access, nostalgia has gradually become a more active process.” https://thewalrus.ca/why-nostalgia-is-our-new-normal/

**TL;DR - While nostalgia can actually be a good thing as a coping mechanism, it can be very harmful too. There is always the danger of losing track of reality while romanticising the past**. Indeed, past memories that someone may feel nostalgic about are, as Mandi Moon says, 'selectively chosen and further tinged and modified by your own brain to seem far better than they truly were'. It is very dangerous to move from sweetly reminiscing past experiences to obsessively sticking to the past and not moving on to the present and future. While nostalgia can make us cherish moments of the past and even escape the anxiety and depression of the present, Robert Yaniz Jr. notices that 'romanticizing the past' can come 'at the expense of the present'. There are times when immersion to nostalgia is so consistent and overpowering that the person loses focus on what is happening in the present and therefore losing the chance to make new memories and experience new situations. These reasons are among some that can render nostalgia dangerous, especially when susceptibility is involved. Indulging our nostalgia is healthy but should not be overstepped. Works Cited Moon, Mandi, 'HINDSIGHT ISN'T ALWAYS 20/20: THE DARK SIDE OF NOSTALGIA' (2015) <https://reporter.rit.edu/views/hindsight-isnt-always-2020-dark-side-nostalgia> [accessed 24 February 2021]. Yaniz Jr., Robert, 'Is There a Dark Side to Nostalgia?' (2018) <https://www.rewire.org/dark-side-nostalgia/> [accessed 24 February 2021].

Although nostalgia has its benefits, having too much nostalgia can be damaging to people as it often leads to heightened sadness and worry. A study by David B Newman for the *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology* concluded that nostalgia is a mixed emotion with both positive and negative affects: 'consciously making an effort to recall the past was found to elevate our moods. But everyday moments of nostalgia were found to be more likely to have a negative effect'. [1] Similarly, some have determined that nostalgia can develop into 'anticipatory nostalgia', which is a form of nostalgia that creates heightened anxiety and sadness. This affects how we react to nostalgia, instead of learning from nostalgia we might in turn become uninspired for the future and be unable to live in the moment. [2] Nostalgia is a good thing until it goes wrong. Those with too much nostalgia fail to live happily in their current life due to their inability to stop reminiscing. Despite nostalgia’s benefits, the limitations of it should also be acknowledged. [1] 'Nostalgia and Well-Being in Daily Life: An Ecological Validity Perspective', (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330546573_Nostalgia_and_Well-Being_in_Daily_Life_An_Ecological_Validity_Perspective) [2] 'When Nostalgia Tilts to Sad: Anticipatory and Personal Nostalgia', (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01186/full#B31)

**I think nostalgia about a certain song/place/activity is often intertwined with the state of mind we are in. Whilst this can be a positive thing, I do think we often overlook what a fondness for nostalgia is telling us about our present state of mind** I am a sucker for nostalgia. I will hear a song and immediately be transported to years ago, or I'll play a game and remember when I went out to buy it at 15. These are often happy moments, and sometimes it can feel just as it did back then. However, I think nostalgia for say, a song, can often be confused with nostalgia for our state of mind back in that moment. For example, I might hear a song and think "ah I remember being sat in a field with my friends when I was 17 listening to this". And whilst yes my nostalgia is triggered by that song, I am actually nostalgic for how I felt in that moment; the peace of it all, the lack of responsibilities, and if I'm honest the lack of mental health problems. Whilst this can be a good motivator to look at our current moment and assess why we do not feel the same now as we did back then, I think this often does not happen. Nostalgia is taken at surface value, and often we can get too wrapped up in looking at the past, chasing that nostalgic hit, instead of focusing on the present and fixing what we have now.

I'm going mixed on this opinion because nostalgia can be good or bad; it depends on the person. In my case, I think its a mixture of both positive and negative. Nostalgia is everywhere: In a song, in a book or even a movie. The symbolism that thing has to you maybe it's relatively positive or negative, but it's always there. On the other hand, I don't think it is good for our mental health to continually think about our past, basically because we don't have the power to change it. Focusing on the good old days can harm our health if we compare it to the present, so I think we should focus o now better than the past or the future because both are unstable.