Have you ever seen a piece of media or tasted a food you had from childhood and it trigger a memory? Perhaps you’ve spoken with an old friend saying nothing new and just reminisced about old times and the stories that came along with them. At some point, we all do. This nostalgic feeling can be traced back to the 17th century as a way to describe being homesick, but in the military, this wasn’t always seen in such a positive light. The evolution of mental health in the armed forces still has a long way to go, but nostalgia is proof that some strides have been made.
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What Does Nostalgic Mean?
Nostalgia involves feeling sentimental about past events. Whether this is a particular place, experience, or thing, your feelings of longing and missing that component of your life come into play here.
This is exactly why being nostalgic is tied to homesickness, as people away from home have a longing for the comfort of their own place of refuge.
The military used to believe that these feelings harmed morale, distracted troops, and set up dangerous environments for all of those involved.
Unfortunately, treatments used by the U.S. military to overcome nostalgia didn’t involve helpful coping methods like writing home or planning a visit to see your family. The treatment they did use, however, involved what would today be seen as war crimes.
Treating the “Disease” of Nostalgia
While feeling nostalgic can certainly lead to negative mental health issues, it’s not a terrible disease detrimental to the health and safety of others as once thought.
Since coining the term and through the 19th century, there were some unconventional methods applied to those feeling this way in hopes of expelling it or turning things around.
Explorers and Soldiers were known to have experienced these feelings while away from home. Everything from discharging them to trying medical practices was applied.
Dr. Jourdan Le Cointe from France even wrote about “inciting pain and terror” to deal with these feelings in his book The Future of Nostalgia, not to be confused with Future Nostalgia by international pop star Dua Lipa.
In the 18th century, Russians took this advice a bit too literally and threatened to bury their troops alive that displayed such symptoms. They even followed through on this promise a couple of times.
When nostalgia was a disease during the American Civil War, Dr. Theodore Calhoun, a surgeon for the Union, believed the best method of ridding a troop of the dreaded nostalgia would be shame and bullying. Additionally, leeches, questionable concoctions, and stomach purges were all used to rid troops of nostalgia.
Thankfully, science has come a long way, but the effects of the “nostalgia disease” are still seen in modern history and warfare, affecting the lives of those who serve.
The Connection With Malaise
It’s clear that both nostalgia and malaise have been treated similarly, to much ineffectiveness. But both mental health issues continue to show up on the battlefield.
The definition of malaise revolves around an uncertain feeling which can be hard to pinpoint. This can be easy to experience when you’re longing to be back home while on a mission you don’t believe in or have become disillusioned during.
Moscow’s military malaise stemming from frustrations during its invasion of Ukraine has hurt not only those fighting in battle but those back home.
Frustration among troops that leads to a feeling of disconnect can bring about negative consequences for military objectives, but burying people alive or subjecting them to risky treatments does nothing to remedy these issues.
Nostalgic for War and the Future of Mental Health
The belief that nostalgia is a disease that requires extreme levels of action may have been surpassed, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still new ideas being considered.
Nostalgia and shell shock leading to PTSD continue to be looked into for Veterans. There are a number of ways Veterans can receive resources for these struggles, and through better understanding, more treatments can become available.
Troops feeling nostalgic can often look to things from home, such as a photo or a trinket, but when nostalgia comes in a negative form causing Vets to feel lost without serving, issues can arise.
Today, being diagnosed with such feelings will point you in the direction of other Veterans and tools to help you overcome such issues.
Those who have served are provided with avenues of hope, not warm, odd drinks in the hopes that some mystery mix would cure what ails them.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling nostalgic in a healthy manner, and it’s encouraging that mental health is being taken much more seriously by the VA and the healthcare community at large. America must continue to treat the mental needs of the military community with effectiveness and focus.
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