Are reunions good for mental health or just nostalgic traps?

You walk into the room. The class clown’s now explaining Bitcoin yield curves. The quiet girl? Signing books at a table near the bar. Someone’s commandeered the aux cord. Someone else still brings up prom like it’s canon. This is your reunion—equal parts improv show, therapy session, and cultural time warp.

It’s billed as a gathering. But let’s be honest: reunions are memory traps dressed up as cocktail hours. And lately, more people are asking—do they soothe us, or simply stir the pot?

Think of a reunion as a living, breathing audit of your past self. You arrive armed with the version of you that feels current. But others? They remember someone else entirely. And being seen through that old lens—whether as class president or the kid who skipped gym—can knock something loose.

Psychologists say nostalgia has a measurable benefit. It can increase our sense of meaning, social belonging, and even help regulate emotions. But the setting matters. When the walk down memory lane happens in a room full of people silently ranking career arcs and wrinkle counts, the boost can get blurry.

Once upon a time, reunions were the catch-up. The only real glimpse into what happened after the yearbook closed. But in a post-Instagram world, most of us already have a curated, pixel-perfect idea of where our classmates ended up.

So what’s the point of going? Precisely that: curation isn’t contact. Something shifts when you hear someone’s laugh again in real time—or notice that the most confident kid in class now avoids eye contact. The physical room still holds a different kind of truth.

Some show up looking for warmth. Others brace for psychic whiplash. Very few walk in without at least one gut-level question: How do I measure up?

If you had strong friendships or came out of school with fond memories, the event might feel affirming. But if life’s been rough lately—job loss, divorce, grief—it’s hard not to scan the room for signs that you’ve somehow fallen behind.

What’s more revealing than anything is what people don’t say. The cheerful group photo may hit your feed by midnight, but it rarely captures the low-key tension hiding behind practiced smiles.

That depends on who’s asking—and when they’re asking it.

Reunions can feel like grounding cords to earlier identities. They remind us of who we were before responsibilities layered on. But they also have a knack for surfacing ghosts—lost friendships, broken expectations, the ache of a different path not taken.

Some find catharsis in the reconnection. Others leave emotionally scrambled. For many, the experience lives somewhere in the middle: a confusing mix of validation and vulnerability.

Strip away the balloons and name tags, and what remains is a reckoning. Reunions challenge the narrative you’ve been telling yourself. They don’t just celebrate progress; they test your relationship with the past.

Maybe you RSVP’d yes. Maybe you deleted the invite. Either way, the reunion lingers. Because it’s never just about saying hello again. It’s about recognizing who you’ve become when nobody was watching—and deciding whether that feels enough.