I was recently interviewed by a reporter from a major news organisation about my research on the psychology of nostalgia.

The reporter was asking me questions such as, “Isn’t it unhealthy to live in the past?” and, “Does nostalgia keep people from looking forward, planning for the future, and embracing new opportunities?”

Turns out this reporter had spoken to some economists who were pushing the idea that nostalgia is a barrier to living in the present and investing in the future.

I wasn’t terribly surprised that the starting point of our conversation was about how nostalgia might be problematic. After all, this has been the view of this emotion for hundreds of years.

A sad history

When the term nostalgia was coined in the late 18th century, it was employed to describe what was believed to be a cerebral disease unique to Swiss mercenaries fighting wars far from home.

Nostalgia was a source of suffering, causing symptoms such as irregular heartbeats, anxiety, insomnia, and disordered eating.

Eventually, nostalgia evolved from being considered a medical condition to being viewed as a mental disorder similar to depression. And this was the case until the later part of the 20th century.

The problem with this view of nostalgia as unhealthy is that it is empirically unsubstantiated. Past scholars and practitioners did not systematically explore the experience of nostalgia and the effect it had on people.

They observed that nostalgia was accompanied by symptoms indicative of ill health (anxiety, for instance, and sadness) and assumed that they were the cause. They didn’t entertain the possibility that the relationship went the other way: nostalgia is a response to distress, not the trigger.

So, nostalgia had a bad rep.

During my interview, I asked the reporter what kind of data these economists had to support the view that nostalgia is harmful. Silence. And then the distant sound of crickets.

A new page

Nostalgia has now received a great deal of attention in the field of empirical psychology and dozens of published studies paint a much more positive picture of this emotion than past scholars did (and some present-day economists evidently).

Many of these studies were conducted by my colleagues and I, and after about ten years of laboratory research, a number of questions about nostalgia can now be answered with data.

Does nostalgia lead to poor mental health? That is, is nostalgia bad for you? No. Studies in which nostalgia is experimentally manipulated indicate that engaging in nostalgic thoughts does not lead to negative emotional states.

Instead, nostalgia activates a number of positive states. Specifically, nostalgia increases positive mood, self-esteem, feelings of social connectedness, and perceptions of meaning in life.

To date, no research has reliably observed any negative psychological consequences of nostalgia.

OK, but why is nostalgia good for people? To answer this question, we need to consider the content of nostalgic memories.

Studies indicate that nostalgic memories are focused on personally treasured life experiences. When people engage in nostalgia, they bring to mind past experiences that they find meaningful.

Nostalgic memories tend to prominently feature the self, but are also very social in nature. People are nostalgic about time spent with close others.

Finally, nostalgic memories are happy memories or at least memories that have happy endings. So nostalgia is good for people because nostalgic reflection allows them to revisit cherished experiences from the past shared with friends and family.

And these experiences make people feel meaningful, valued, loved and happy.

What makes people nostalgic?

Nostalgia has a wide range of triggers. Familiar smells, music, and connecting with old friends on Facebook can activate nostalgia.

But research shows the experiences that most commonly trigger nostalgia could be described as psychological threats. Loneliness, for instance, is a prominent trigger of nostalgia.

Other psychological threats that have been documented to generate nostalgia include negative moods and feelings of meaninglessness. So past physicians and therapists might have been correct in detecting a relationship between negative emotional states and nostalgia.

But they were wrong about the direction of the relationship. Nostalgia doesn’t trigger distress, distress triggers nostalgia. And, as current research demonstrates, nostalgia promotes good psychological health.

Indeed, nostalgia appears to be the tool people use to counter or cope with negative psychological states.

Is it good?

Nostalgia helps people cope with psychological vulnerabilities. A recent series of studies, for instance, indicates that loneliness leads to nostalgia, which, in turn, increases feelings of social support.

A consequence of being lonely is the feeling that you have no one to turn to for support. And perceived social support is important for mental and physical health.

Nostalgic memories typically involve close relationships and remind people that they have others who care about them. So when people are lonely, they recruit nostalgia to bolster feelings of social support.

Other studies indicate that nostalgia similarly helps people cope with feelings of meaninglessness.

A number of scholars in labs around the world are now studying nostalgia. And a similar picture is emerging across these different labs.

Nostalgia is a healthy emotion that promotes well-being and helps people cope with vulnerabilities and insecurities. Nostalgia is not about living in the past, it is utilising the past to help with struggles in the present.

Nostalgia doesn’t keep people from looking ahead and planning for the future – it helps give them the strength to move forward.

Superstorm task force says as coasts rebuild, they should prep for rising seas, future floods

European forests near ‘carbon saturation point’

By Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News

Disturbances, such as wildfires, contribute to the reduction of carbon sequestration in Europe’s forests

European forests are showing signs of reaching a saturation point as carbon sinks, a study has suggested.

Since 2005, the amount of atmospheric CO2 absorbed by the continent’s trees has been slowing, researchers reported.

Writing in Nature Climate Change, they said this was a result of a declining volume of trees, deforestation and the impact of natural disturbances.

Carbon sinks play a key role in the global carbon cycle and are promoted as a way to offset rising emissions.

Many of Europe’s forests are reaching an age where growth, and carbon uptake, slows down

Writing in their paper, the scientists said the continent’s forests had been recovering in recent times after centuries of stock decline and deforestation.

The growth had also provided a “persistent carbon sink”, which was projected to continue for decades.

However, the team’s study observed three warnings that the carbon sink provided by Europe’s tree stands was nearing a saturation point.

“First, the stem volume increment rate (of individual trees) is increasing and thus the sink is curbing after decades of increase,” they wrote.

“Second, land use is intensifying, thereby leading to deforestation and associated carbon losses.

“Third, natural disturbances (eg wildfires) are increasing and, as a consequence, so are the emissions of CO2.”

Co-author Gert-Jan Nabuurs from Wageningen University and Research Centre, Netherlands, said: “All of this together means that the increase in the size of the sink is stopping; it is even declining a little.

“We see this as the first signs of a saturating sink,” he told BBC News.

Sinking feeling

The carbon cycle is the process by which carbon – essential for life on the planet – is transferred between land (geosphere and terrestrial biosphere), sea (hydrosphere) and the atmosphere.

Carbon sinks refers to the capacity of key components in the cycle – such as the soil, oceans, rock and fossil fuels – to store carbon, preventing it from being recycled, eg between the land and the atmosphere.

Management techniques, such as coppicing, will help rejuvenate Europe’s forests, the study suggests

Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has modified the cycle as a result of burning fossil fuels and land-use change.

Burning fossil fuels has resulted in vast amounts of carbon previously locked in the geosphere being released into the atmosphere.

Land-use change – such as urbanisation and deforestation – has reduced the size of the biosphere, which removes carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

Dr Nabuurs explained that saturation referred to the point where the natural carbon sinks were unable to keep pace and absorb the additional atmospheric carbon being released by human activities.

He said emissions had risen a lot over the past decade, primarily through the rise of emerging economies in countries such as China, India and Brazil.

The researcher’s conclusions appear to contradict the State of Europe’s Forests report in 2011 that showed forest cover in Europe had continued to increase. The report said trees covered almost half of Europe’s land area and absorbed about 10% of Europe’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

But Dr Nabuurs said that the rate of afforestation was slowing, adding that a sizeable proportion of forests were mature stands of trees, which were mainly planted in the early part of the 20th Century or in the post-World War II period.

Forests absorb about 10% of the EU’s annual greenhouse gas emissions

“These forests have now reached 70-80 years old and are starting a phase in the life of a tree where the growth rate starts to come down,” he explained.

“So you have large areas of old forest and even if you add these relatively small areas of new forest, this does not compensate for the loss of growth rate in the old forests.”

However, mature woodlands have been recognised as a key habitat for supporting and conserving biodiversity.

Will this lead to policymakers making a choice between forests’ ecological value and their effectiveness at sequestering CO2?

“That is indeed a large challenge,” said Dr Nabuurs.

“Old forests in Europe are necessary and we certainly need those forests.

“I think policymakers at a national level and within the EU have to be clear that in certain regions, within valuable habitats, that the focus is on old forests and biodiversity.

“But in other regions, maybe it is time to concentrate more on continuous wood production again and rejuvenate forests again, so then you have growing forests and a continuous flow of wood products.

“This seems to be the optimal way to address both the need for wood products and maintaining a carbon sink in growing forests.”

‘Real problem’

The study’s findings could have implications for EU and member state’s climate mitigation efforts to reduce emissions.

“Most European nations, as part of their emissions reduction commitments, can also use forest carbon sinks,” Dr Nabuurs observed.

“Under the Kyoto Protocol, countries were voluntarily choosing to take that sink into account.

“But in the next commitment period, forest management will be an obligatory part of reaching the emissions reduction targets.

“For some countries, the sink is a very large part of their emissions reduction commitment so the saturation is a real problem, requiring them to take additional measures, for example in the electricity generation or transport sectors.”

As a sizeable proportion of Europe’s forest areas are owned by smallholders, the process of changing the age-profile of the continent’s tree cover could prove challenging with some owners resisting the idea of increasing wood production and tree harvesting.

Changes to the climate and the lack of management are reducing forests’ resilience to natural disturbances

One potential solution is a pan-European, legally binding agreement on forest management that would look to balance the ecological value of forests against the trees’ commercial and climate mitigation value.

Delegates from more than 40 nations have been working on such a framework since 2011.

However, talks stalled in June when negotiators were unable to reach agreement on a number of technicalities.

“This is a very important process where all the European states are working towards a legally binding agreement,” Dr Nabuurs commented.

“It is a very important framework in which the member states can devise their own national policies.

“It is obvious that within nations, forest policy is often quite weak. To strengthen this, this agreement is certainly necessary.”

Talks are set to resume in the autumn, with the aim of having a draft agreement in place by mid-November for EU forestry ministers to consider.

Top Stories

• Islamist detainees killed in Egypt
• Brazil alarm at UK terror detention
• Oscar Pistorius to reappear in court
• India train kills people on track
• NZ holds its first same-sex weddings

Advertisement

Features & Analysis

• LA’s forgotten steps

  The stairways that once connected its hillside homes

  ---

• Rusting landmark

  Hanoi’s decaying colonial-era bridge patiently awaits a makeover

  ---

• Big love

  One house, four people, three couples. How does it work?

  ---

• Lost at sea

  How a near death accident drove one man to succeed in business

  ---

Most Popular

Shared

1. 1: Brazil alarm at UK terror detention
2. 2: How does a polyamorous relationship between four people work?
3. 3: Trees near ‘carbon saturation point’
4. 4: Exploring LA’s forgotten stairways
5. 5: NZ holds its first same-sex weddings

Read

1. 1: How does a polyamorous relationship between four people work?
2. 2: Brazil alarm at UK terror detention
3. 3: Islamist detainees killed in Egypt
4. 4: Ubuntu sets crowdfund pledge record
5. 5: UK warship due to dock in Gibraltar
6. 6: India train kills people on track
7. 7: Exploring LA’s forgotten stairways
8. 8: Brush with death inspired cider boss
9. 9: Norwegian man dies in DR Congo jail
10. 10: Japanese minister kills himself

Video/Audio

1. 1: How Egypt’s military grew so powerful Watch
2. 2: Volcano covers Japanese city in ash Watch
3. 3: Swiss asylum rules ‘akin to apartheid’ Watch
4. 4: US brewer’s dream: all the beer in China Watch
5. 5: Malaysian restaurant hires armed guard Watch
6. 6: One-minute World News Watch
7. 7: Inside Peru’s Ancon 2 prison Watch
8. 8: Cairo residents’ views on crisis Watch
9. 9: Egyptian families united in grief Watch
10. 10: The moment Gu Kailai was sentenced Watch

BBC Future

Most stunning images of the week

From worm burgers to beetle robots Read more…

Programmes

• Fast Track Watch

  Forget dating agencies – a remote mountain in Transylvania could be where you find a perfect partner

Ads by Google

• TAFE Courses Online

  Advance Your Career – Study Online. Flexible Payments & Study Options.

  www.opencolleges.edu.au

• Keep Your Brain Young

  Sharpen Your Memory With Brain Games Made By Neuroscientists

  www.lumosity.com

• Reduce Global Warming

  Learn how Carbon Capture & Storage is a solution for Global Warming

  www.globalccsinstitute.com

North West Passage – ice levels alarming for transiting yachts

Select Language​▼

‘Comparison between 2012 and 2013’    . The North West Passage, once thought of as an impossible dream for sailors, has been more and more ice free over the last few years, encouraging more and more yachts to the adventure. But 2013 is shaping up to be very different, possibly alarming for the boats who have already started. Here Douglas Pohl, Captain of the 55ft motor vessel Grey Goose, which transited successfully in 2013, tells the story: Over the last three weeks, Arctic ice area has declined by 662,000 km², which is 60% of normal and the slowest on record. Slow ice melt means more ice choke-points to navigate – many specific locations have been near impossible to even try with 90% ice concentrations. In 2013 there has been a 55%increase in Arctic ice since this date last year. Basically the summer melt season has been the slowest on record. There are more pronounced ice ‘choke-points’ for vessels attempting a NW Passage than in recorded history. Seven vessels have been waiting around Lancaster Sound unable to navigate south nor west while other vessels in the Western Arctic have been delayed in reaching Cambridge Bay from ice in Amundsen Gulf. Westerly winds have also pushed the Beaufort Sea ice up tight against Banks Island. The 2013 ice season is nothing like the 2012 ice season – a black & white difference. The bottom line is: If and when the ice melts ‘enough’ to allow open navigation by small yachts, will there be enough of the summer ice melt season remaining? …or put another way: When will Mother Nature close the door and the sea freeze over, preventing anyone exiting the Arctic in 2013. It appears that slower sailing boats are at risk of being trapped in the Arctic. Turning the western corner at Point Barrow has always been a risky proposition at the best of times, and Queen Maud and Bellot Strait are ‘choke-points’ for either direction of travel this season. Sailing boats known to be in the area this season intending a transit or a partial transit are the following: East to West: Acalephe, Canadian, 13.9m, aluminium cutter rigged Arctic Tern, British, 43ft Steel cutter rigged pilot house La Belle Epoque, German, 13m steel cutter rigged ketch Libellule, Check Republic, 47ft catermaran Tooluka, Netherlands, 14.15m steel sloop Traversay III, (USA?), sloop, thought to be fibreglass West to East: Anna, thought to be French, 10.5 steel ketch Balthazar, Canadian, 10.5m welded steel Dodo’s Delight, British, 33ft fibreglass sloop Empiricus, USA, 50ft yawl Tara, French, 36m aluminium expedition schooner motor-sailer There are other boats in the region, some have cancelled their journey, others have a different intent than a North West Passage crossing, some are motor boats. Here are a few of those also in the region: Arctic Joule, Canadian, cabin rowing boat Babushka, French, a hubrid catamaran with cuddy cabin, going for the North Pole Bernard Explorer, 46ft motor sailer, historical research expedition, Banks Island Fairmont’s Passion, USA, 17.5ft Norseboat – Inuvik to Resolute Glory of the Sea, Canadian, 50ft aluminium cutter rig, circling the eastern side Ikimaya, Canadian, tandem kayak, Tuktoyaktuk to Igloolik Lady Dana, Polish, 14.3m steel sloop, doing an Arctic circumnavigation Le Manguier, French, 21.1m steel hulled tug with stay-sail rig, circumnavigating Banks Is Noeme, French, 14.5m cold moulded epoxy, route unknown Polar Bound, British, 48ft custom aluminium expedition motor vessel, 6th transit Rowing Ice, French, 21ft cabin rowing boat, West to East, part transit Tranquillo, Netherlands, 56ft aluminium sloop, centreboard They could all experience conditions worse than they had been expecting, and, no doubt, the Canadian rescue services are gearing up for what could be a challenging year. You can follow Douglas’s blog at : http://northwestpassage2013.blogspot.com/ by Douglas Pohl/Sail-World Cruising http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=113360 10:17 AM Mon 19 Aug 2013 Click here for printer friendly version Click here to send us feedback or comments about this story.   Click for further information on Adventure Sailing Related News Stories: 17 Aug 2013 North West Passage in 33ft Dodo’s Delight – gales already 16 Jul 2013 Polish crew to circumnavigate the North Pole in Lady Dana 09 Jul 2013 Sailor Jeanne Socrates, world’s oldest non-stop female circumnavigator 08 Jul 2013 Circumnavigating French sailor in 8ft boat rescued in Torres Strait 22 Jun 2013 Jeanne Socrates – near to victory in Victoria 16 Jun 2013 Book Review: ‘Suddenly Overboard’ by Tom Lochhaas 27 May 2013 Who am I? Solo sailor lists the breakages 21 May 2013 Incredible Jeanne crosses equator – one more leg to victory 13 May 2013 Francis Joyon about to challenge Trans Atlantic record from New York 10 May 2013 First solo circumnavigation by deaf sailor wins OCC award MORE STORIES …