Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kwanchit Sasiwongsaroj
It is by all means certain that we have all gone back to look through old photographs that fill us with nostalgia for those days. I myself did that so many times, especially with the photographs from when I travelled with friends. Of course, such photographs make us smile from those memories that recalled happiness and joy, including events, places and other good impressions back then.
Nevertheless, such “nostalgia” can also push us into fits of deepening depression as things have changed over time. When comparing the past with the present, the past is called “the past” and it seems to affect people’s minds in both positive and negative ways. The elderly have been through thick and thin for a long time. This appears intrinsically interesting enough to find how the past that the elderly experienced has affected their mind.
Old age is implicitly regarded as closely approaching a period of continuous loss, both socially and physically. Their roles have changed from “employed” to “unemployed,” including reduced daily routines and incomes. Meanwhile, relationships with colleagues become more distant and, moreover, those who grow older face the loss of contemporary friends or spouses who have passed away. In particular, elderly women tend to live longer than elderly men, so at a later age they may have to live a life alone.
In addition to things around us, gradual deterioration of the body is also an important issue for the way of life and mental state of the elderly. Indeed, there are so many risks of illnesses close at hand such as stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, falls and broken bones, osteoarthritis, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer. The elderly run a higher risk, even amongst those without age-related degenerative diseases of various organs that affect the senses of ears, eyes, nose, tongue, as well as movement and memory. All in all, the truth be known, the truth be faced. This makes living in late life more or less restrictive, depending on the health capital that has been accumulated.
The abovementioned changes bring volatility into one’s life so much that one’s mental health can be affected in late life. This leads to the presumption that depression amongst the elderly is probably higher than at other ages. Nevertheless, past research has yielded inconsistent results. Some say that depression is less common in the elderly than the younger generation. Since depression correlates to a high death rate, patients may not survive even until old age. The elderly who have survived until now are those who have overcome hardships and pressures and are therefore believed to be a group that is more likely to adapt. However, some research has argued that depressive symptoms are less common in the elderly because diagnosing mental health problems in the elderly is complex. Depression in the elderly is often hidden behind physical symptoms such as dementia. Suicide rates among the elderly are also quite common.
At any rate, when it comes to the sea change the elderly undergo, the past can certainly impact their mental health, particularly through the memories of childhood and youth that remind them strongly of present loss, as in, “Now I can’t be as strong as before.” and “All my friends have passed away.” In the circles of psychological health, a sentimental longing for the happy past was labelled as “nostalgia.” In the late 17th century, Johannes Hofer, a physician in Switzerland, coined the term to describe a “brain disease” afflicting Swiss mercenaries in wars far from their motherland. Those suffering had such symptoms as homesickness, anxiety, crying spells, irregular heartbeat and disordered eating. Back then, the physicians considered nostalgia a neurological disorder.
It was not until the late 20th century that nostalgia was freed from it stigmatic association with depression. Since then, several scholars have proposed new perspectives considering the use of nostalgia to generate positive effects for mental health. In 2006 Wildschut et al. presented their distinct findings. Instead of judging nostalgia as a psychological threat, they reasoned, let us recognize it as a vital resource for curing, bolstering and restoring psychological well-being, as well as promoting adaptation. Based on their study, subjects aged from their 20’s to their late 80’s wrote about their nostalgia. The results showed that “people” such as families, spouses and close friends were most closely associated with their nostalgia, followed by “important life events” such as weddings, family gatherings and holidays. Thus, in nostalgia strong social bonds are featured, while the majority of subjects recall their past about once a week. Because those sentiments described are mostly positive, the results of this content analysis, therefore, appears to contradict historical accounts of nostalgia as mental and physical illness affecting individuals.
In the recent past, nostalgia has been employed to stimulate positive feelings—for instance, goodness, warmth, security, happiness and contentment—being a device to overcome sadness, discouragement and depression. Also, numerous studies have conducted experiments using various media from the past such as old pictures, smells or sounds (e.g., songs) to stimulate the feeling of goodness connecting the past to the present. According to the confirmed results, this stimulation approach can help reduce anxiety and depression, improve heart rate, induce relaxation, and effectively inhibit inflammation of internal systems.
The elderly are commonly regarded to have a wealth of memories and knowledge of the past. If you always manage your nostalgia to sustain joy and happiness, all will lead to good mental health. There are so many kinds of media that will help you connect your good feelings from the past and heal your mind in the present, such as the novels or books you have read before, or the beloved movies from your youth, that can make you feel rejuvenated again. Or possibly the scent of perfume you used on a date, songs from the 60’s, or photos of a reunion party. Like magic, you can travel back to the stories of those good old days and retell them, which can be the best healing for your own heart in the present. After all, it is indeed all up to you only; whether to make bygone days bright or blue.
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
“A feeling of sadness mixed with pleasure and affection when you think of happy times in the past.”
(https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
“A feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past.”
(https://dictionary.cambridge.org)
It was not until around 1984 that I unbelievably felt a bit like falling for a Greek who had been named and introduced to Europe by a medical student in Switzerland and become very reputable by a 17th-century up to the present.
Of course, I am alluding to “nostalgia,” the word that sounds so warm and melodious once heard for the first time. Since then, I have put the word as my most favorite. At that time I was merely a fresher enthusiastic about everting at the Uni, especially the English Literature class. Notwithstanding, I did not take it seriously at all about its subtle meaning; I never attentively look up a word in a dictionary or had an interest in its etymology; I instead had only the most superficial knowledge of its partial meaning. Shame on me!
As time passed with more tree rings of my age, I gained a much better comprehension in life. Through my reflection going beyond words, I had a feeling of awakening after I returned to revisit my dearest “nostalgia,” filling me with nostalgia. That was more than two decades ago when I did read its meaning and found so much to ponder.
My work on this translation, To Make Bygone Days Bright or Blue: Let the Elderly Choose Mental Health for Themselves published in the E-Bulletin on the website of the Intelligence Center for Elderly Media Literacy (ICEML), Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University took me back to the past memories a bit. This time it is not about any words exactly, but, instead it is about definitions the lexicographers created. However, it can be guessed that “nostalgia” still plays a major role. In addition to such definitions, I reckon that although this translation is not of quite scientific, it contains some terminologies interesting enough for discussion.
On the first page, I displayed two definitions provided by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house, and the Cambridge Dictionary under Cambridge University Press, respectively. As obviously mentioned, those are the definitions of the word, “nostalgia”. What made me have the slightest doubt as to which major meaning should be relied upon.
By way of contrast, I tend to think that whereas the Oxford English Dictionary puts ‘sadness’ as the main meaning, the Cambridge Dictionary presents ‘pleasure’ instead. This may be like trivial details. Notwithstanding, I, as a translator-cum-nostalgia-fan, could not help but notice that, at the end of the day, both sadness and pleasure are the same team co-constructing the meaning of nostalgia.
According to To Make Bygone Days Bright or Blue: Let the Elderly Choose Mental Health for Themselves, although the meaning of nostalgia was coined to describe a “brain disease” afflicting Swiss mercenaries in wars far from their motherland. With this information from the late 17th century, it is evident that before ‘sadness’ at war, he had ‘pleasure’ at home. Therefore, whether or not; the good or the bad comes first, both play a part of the human past and memories. Most important of all, context is the key in terms of which it can be fully understood.
Back then, the physicians considered nostalgia a neurological disorder. Apart from homesickness, other symptoms that mercenaries suffered include, anxiety, crying spells, irregular heartbeat and disordered eating. Of all, I found the last symptom a bit of a challenge – “disordered eating”. In the original manuscript this symptom is conveyed as “cannot eat” which encompass almost all possibilities. To cut a long story short, I researched that how nostalgia enhanced psychological health and well-being back then. Then I could start my engine from the heaven word below:
According to Routledge, C. et al. (2013: 808), “individuals suffering from the disease manifested symptoms such as homesickness, anxiety, weeping episodes, irregular heartbeat, insomnia, and disordered eating ….” Nevertheless, I kept searching more to make it right. Campbell, A. (2024) made it clearer that “eating disorders and disordered eating are actually different from one another. The simple answer is that an eating disorder is a clinical diagnosis, whereas disordered eating is not. It’s helpful to think of a spectrum of eating, with “normal” intuitive eating on one end and eating disorders on the other.” So, this information helped confirm that how the “cannot eat” symptom should be delivered.
After all, it is indeed all up to the translator; whether to make translation bright or blue. Of course, mine is bright!
I do owe a special debt of gratitude to two people in particular, that is, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nuntiya Doungphummes, Chair of Intelligent Center for Elderly Media Literacy, Mahidol University and Asst. Prof. Dr. Theeraphong Boonrugsa Program Chairperson in Language and Intercultural Communication, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia (RILCA), Mahidol University, whose great trust and support have been invaluable.
Last but not least, I would like to express my extreme gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kwanchit Sasiwongsaroj, Program Chairperson in Cultural Studies, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia (RILCA), Mahidol University, and her meaningful article, To Make Bygone Days Bright or Blue: Let the Elderly Choose Mental Health for Themselves for bringing me this preface that will also become one of my salient memories — a great nostalgia trip, not only as the translator but also as one of the prospective readers as well.
Krittaya Akanisdha
June 2024
References
- Cambridge Dictionary. (2024, 23 May). Nostalgia. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/nostalgia#google_vignette.
- Campbell, A. Disordered Eating Vs. Eating Disorders. (2024, 31 May). https://changecreateschange.com/disordered-eating-vs-eating-disorders-whats-the-difference/#
- Oxford Learners’s Dictionaries. (2024, 23 May). Nostalgia.
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/nostalgia - Routledge, C. (2013) “Nostalgia as a Resource for Psychological Health and Well-Being”. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 7/11: 808–818, 10.1111/spc3.12070