Isabella Bossom
M.A. Student
Key words: eating disorders, nostalgia, relapse, recovery
In my research I am assessing the associations between nostalgia for past disordered eating behaviours, relapse frequency, and recovery stage among people in recovery from eating disorders. Prior research has highlighted the positive influence of nostalgia for motivating people living with addiction to change their behaviour. However, no research has examined the role of nostalgia for past maladaptive behaviours among people in recovery. In eating disorder research, nostalgia has never been studied, although, anecdotal evidence suggests that nostalgia could potentially be beneficial to the recovery process. My goal with this research is to investigate how people in recovery from eating disorders experience nostalgia and the effects it has on their recovery journey. The results of this study will shed much needed light on the role of nostalgia in eating disorder recovery.