Nostalgia has been found to connect us to our past and helps give each of our lives a sense of meaning. 

It can be used for good, in ways such as nostalgia therapy, but it can also be misused.

These are the things that academics have discovered when studying the concept of nostalgia and its effect on our emotional responses to different forms of memory-triggering stimuli.

The feelings that nostalgia creates can be as unique to us personally as people we used to know and places we would hang out, or as universal as the songs and other popular culture that were around in a given era that we lived through.

In fact, music is one of the most powerful memory triggers that we know of. 

Thinking of a happy memory, or listening to some songs from your youth, is something you can consciously do to give yourself an occasional pick-me-up.

You can also actively create what is called anticipatory nostalgia by doing things now that you enjoy.

This will give you a larger library of things to look back on fondly later.

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You do need to be careful about what memories you trigger though, because while positive memories have a positive effect negative memories can also have a powerful negative effect.

Nostalgia has also been found to have a different level of effect on different people. For some - especially through middle-age - it can make them more acutely aware of their real age if they haven't already come to terms with that.

You also need to avoid wallowing in nostalgia for too long or too often.

It has a measurable effect on the reward centre of your brain, but that reward is diminished when overused.

Also be aware that politicians can use nostalgia to provoke social and cultural anxieties, and use it as a tool of political persuasion.