Nostalgia Is a False Security Blanket

Revisiting the familiar helped us early in the pandemic, but now we have to look to the future, not the past

Photo: Halfdark/Getty Images

Within the first month of coronavirus lockdowns, I started binge-watching Dawson’s Creek. For some reason, during a time of great uncertainty, letting the dulcet tones of “I Don’t Want to Wait” wash over me became the coziest blanket to wrap myself up in.

I started rifling through old yearbooks, scheduling zoom dates with high school friends, and wearing once-fashionable (I swear) velvet chokers. Mainlining nostalgia helped me feel normal again. It comforted me.

Many people have been on similar nostalgia kicks. “When people feel socially isolated or bored, they feel nostalgic,” Kaitlyn Tiffany writes in The Atlantic. Theodora Blanchfield, a fitness writer from Los Angeles, has been streaming a ton of old Disney movies “because it reminds me of the simple joy I felt as a kid.” Justin Lamar Nix, a toy store owner in New Orleans, Lousiana, has turned to reruns of ’90s game shows. “Those old Supermarket Sweep [episodes] instantly swept me into a ‘home sick from school’ vibe I didn’t realize I could still access,” he says.

Our Brains Are Taking Us Back to High School

It’s actually quite common to embrace the past when faced with stress and trauma. Studies have shown that in times of uncertainty, we reach for comforting sensations from the past. Nostalgia soothes because it evokes simpler and safer times. But if we’re to emerge from this time with our emotional health intact, we’re going to have to start looking to the future, not the past. Here’s why.

Nostalgia is a faux security blanket

In small doses, sure, nostalgia is a useful coping mechanism. “It can have a stabilizing effect, reminding us that we possess a store of memories that are unique to us and help us develop our own unique identities,” says Greta Hirsch, PhD, clinical director at the Ross Center in New York City. According to new scientific analysis…