Nostalgia as a Linking Phenomenon

Immigrants and refugees who leave behind their countries, loved ones, and cultural environment experience loss and are obliged to go through a mourning process which may become complicated due to a variety of factors. Many such individuals create linking objects or linking phenomena that help them to continue to have contact with the past, while adjusting to their new environment. Nostalgia is the affect that accompanies linking objects and linking phenomena and at times functions itself as a linking phenomenon. The lack of nostalgia, poisoned nostalgia, and nostalgia in the service of adaptation are discussed with clinical examples.