Why Some People Want To Go Back To 2016

Excerpt:

Nostalgia can be triggered by anything, but the internal psychological triggers of nostalgia tend to be negative emotions like stress, loneliness or anxiety. People feel stress or anxiety and become nostalgic for times past as a way to both comfort and inspire themselves, Clay Routledge, an existential psychologist, told USA TODAY.

There’s a link between the serious events in the world and the pop culture occurring at the same time. People often turn to different sources for inspiration and energy at those moments of anxiety and distress, he added. Similar to saving pennies for a rainy day, people are able to look back and draw from past experiences as resources that are fun, fulfilling, meaningful and energizing.

“A lot of that stuff is pop cultural that seems like, oh, that’s just silly to watch old movies or to play old video games or listen to old music, but in reality, engaging in that type of stuff improves our well-being and motivates us and that can help us in the more serious (moments),” Routledge said.

Psychologically, this is known as a reminiscence bump, Routledge said. People tend to favor their childhood and adolescent memories more, and for those who were teenagers or young adults in 2016, the year might hold more weight.

“We can be nostalgic for any time and we often are,” Routledge said. “We collect memories throughout our lives that we can draw from at any point in time…but we tend to privilege memories from our youth.”

For Routledge, the nostalgia and admiration people continue to feel for 2016 highlight how the year was useful in some way. It’s okay to look back on the past fondly, he added.

“Even though people might be saying, ‘hey, I’m looking to 2016 nostalgically,’ what they’re really saying is… ‘there’s something about 2016 that can help me approach 2026,'” Routledge said. “What’s happening in the brain is how we’re using nostalgia as this self-regulatory resource to move forward with some sense of confidence and direction.”

Read the full article at USA Today.