Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Oct 13:11:572881.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.572881. eCollection 2020.

Attenuating Pain With the Past: Nostalgia Reduces Physical Pain

Mike Kersten  1 , Julie A Swets  2 , Cathy R Cox  2 , Takashi Kusumi  3 , Kazushi Nishihata  3 , Tomoya Watanabe  3
Affiliations

Attenuating Pain With the Past: Nostalgia Reduces Physical Pain

Mike Kersten et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Previous work has found that nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, is associated with psychological, emotional, and social benefits. Recent research has demonstrated that nostalgic reflection also can improve individuals' physical health (i.e., exercise) and reduce temperature-related pain. Building on this, two experiments examined how nostalgia can reduce people's pain perceptions (i.e., reduced severity and increased tolerance). Specifically, Study 1 showed that inducing nostalgia through a writing task decreased perceived pain severity (i.e., intensity) among self-reported chronic pain sufferers. Study 2, in turn, demonstrated that Japanese individuals experienced increased pain tolerance (i.e., the maximum level of pain a person can tolerate) for a pressure algometer task following thoughts of nostalgia (vs. a control prime). This work provides evidence that nostalgic reflection may serve as a psychological resource to reduce the perceived severity of physical pain.

Keywords: emotion; health; nostalgia; pain tolerance; physical pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Affleck G., Tennen H., Zautra A., Urrows S., Abeles M., Karoly P. (2001). Women’s pursuit of personal goals in daily life with fibromyalgia: a value-expectancy analysis. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 69 587–596. 10.1037/0022-006x.69.4.587 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Birnie K. A., Caes L., Wilson A. C., Williams S. E., Chambers C. T. (2014). A practical guide and perspectives on the use of experimental pain modalities with children and adolescents. Pain 4 97–111. 10.2217/pmt.13.72 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Breivik H., Collett B., Ventafridda V., Cohen R., Gallacher D. (2006). Survey of chronic pain in Europe: prevalence, impact on daily life, and treatment. Eur. J. Pain 10 287–333. 10.1016/j.ejpain.2005.06.009 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cramer H., Ward L., Steel A., Lauche R., Dobos G., Zhang Y. (2016). Prevalence, patterns, and predictors of yoga use: results of a U.S. nationally representative survey. Am. J. Prev. Med. 50 230–235. 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.07.037 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dahlhamer J., Lucas J., Zelaya C., Nahin R., Mackey S., DeBar L., et al. (2018). Prevalence of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain among adults – United States, 2016. Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 67 1001–1006. 10.15585/mmwr.mm6736a2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed