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Nostalgia is defined as "a popular term which refers to warm feelings about the past, a past that is imbued with happy memories, pleasures and joys." The author reviews nostalgia as discussed in the psychoanalytic literature; a literature which
emphasizes the depressive qualities of remembering past losses as well as joys. Kaplan then describes "pathological nostalgia"—nostalgia as a defense and a resistance to maturation. Kaplan writes in some detail, relating pathological nostalgia to the formation of ego ideals, family romance themes, and screen functions. Two cases are presented as evidence of pathological nostalgia in the clinical situation.