Neuroprotection
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2015
- Messages
- 1,264
i’ve always been a very anxious person since childhood and much of it is probably related to me being a blind introvert living in a large family with a brother who has some type of undiagnosed autism and severe anger issues. most of my anxiety stems from the possibility of a serious fight/argument breaking out at any moment, whilst the rest is in regard to my work et cetera. interestingly, a few years ago I realised I had a very strong tendency to look back on past neutral or positive events with extreme longing and desire to return to them. I often find myself imagining I am back in those times and imagine ridiculously unrealistic scenarios. for example, I tell myself that if I had a time machine, I would go back to A specific time period E.g. the summer of 2019 or The summer of the 2020 Covid lockdown and then smash that Time Machine to prevent me from ever getting out of that time period. I believe much of my nostalgia for these past events, amongst many others was the fact that my argumentative brother was extremely busy, working six days a week nightshift at a warehouse thus being too tired to cause any arguments in the day along with the fact he slept most of the day as well.
I’ve read a lot about nostalgia and in most cases, it’s a positive thing. for example, nostalgia about a certain holiday destination can drive people to work harder, make more money and have another wonderful holiday like it, all the while succeeding in their career on the way. however, psychologists worn that nostalgia often involves distorted and filtered memories which create a deceptively positive picture of that time. this is definitely true to a large extent, however, I feel that my own nostalgia is much more rational, that is, I’ve actually told other people that I enjoyed those time periods whilst I was in them. despite being quite rational, I can’t deny my nostalgia is extreme and persistent. recently, I came across articles on nostalgic depression and the description of the disorder largely match my own symptoms.
Has anyone else had a similar experience to me?
Also, I wonder if nostalgia is a powerful trigger for relapse to drug addictions?
I’ve read a lot about nostalgia and in most cases, it’s a positive thing. for example, nostalgia about a certain holiday destination can drive people to work harder, make more money and have another wonderful holiday like it, all the while succeeding in their career on the way. however, psychologists worn that nostalgia often involves distorted and filtered memories which create a deceptively positive picture of that time. this is definitely true to a large extent, however, I feel that my own nostalgia is much more rational, that is, I’ve actually told other people that I enjoyed those time periods whilst I was in them. despite being quite rational, I can’t deny my nostalgia is extreme and persistent. recently, I came across articles on nostalgic depression and the description of the disorder largely match my own symptoms.
Has anyone else had a similar experience to me?
Also, I wonder if nostalgia is a powerful trigger for relapse to drug addictions?