Nostalgia is a curious thing. In times of uncertainty, segments of a society often use it as a coping device. Consequently, it can also become a political tool with which leaders shape promises about reconstructing a past that was supposedly better than the turbulent present.
Nostalgia is not history. It is a sentiment. It is an emotional snapshot of a past that is perceived as being something that was less complex. For nostalgia to work, it needs to avoid cold analysis. As a memory, it is usually isolated from what was happening outside that particular memory, something that was not that warm.
According to research published in 2015 by the British psychologist Constantine Sedikides, nostalgia can be a healthy emotion. Nostalgia of this nature is often associated with ageing men and women who feel that their influence inside the house and outside is being overwhelmed by rapid economic, social and political shifts.
However, psychologists are of the view that nostalgia also comes into play within younger people, especially when they cross a milestone. They reminisce about what all they went through before the crossing. Here too, memories isolated from the not-so-warm ones in the same time frame, work as momentary feel-good emotions.