This is a good point.

Yes, I wonder if the presence of a mood disorder could skew the effect of nostalgia on a single individual. Personality and other individual factors probably play a role too. The studies are based on statistics. And we all know that with stats, there is someone who is off the curve. I might be one of those "someones".

It's ok and, FWIW, I don't feel disturbed. I was just really confused. Mostly, it didn't make sense to me because their working definition seemed off. The claims were also pretty inconsistent with my experience. I have to be very, very careful how much nostalgia I allow myself to feel. There's a delicate balance between savoring and grieving. In my experience, nostalgia is only good as long as the savoring predominates. When the balance favors grieving it becomes destructive and dangerous.

The following article captures the more negative nostalgic experience well, IMHO:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/colle...esence-absence

This description of nostalgia contains what I see as all the essential components. (The sentences are organized so as to launch into the negative aspects, granted.)
The word bittersweet characterizes the dual nature of nostalgia well, imho.

My own experience is less negative than what is presented in the article. Nostalgia does not remind me, personally, of my mortality! I also do not equate nostalgia with pining, any more than I equate it with homesickness. I see both as being forms of nostalgia. I get a strongly negative connotation from pining, which I view as a predominantly negative kind of nostalgia - one best avoided for the sake of sanity.

waves