How do you remember your childhood?

My memory isn't perfect, obviously, but it's usually pretty good. The thing is, most of the narrative is just that: a narrative. I've told myself my own stories a thousand times. A thousand thousand times. The thing is, I recently uncovered a buried memory (not one of consequence) watching a video of something on youtube. Something that I could not dredge up, but once primed, it all came back. That's pretty rare for me.

Ashlar wrote:The thing is, I recently uncovered a buried memory (not one of consequence) watching a video of something on youtube. Something that I could not dredge up, but once primed, it all came back. That's pretty rare for me.

i read a lot a about memories lately, and it seems widely accepted that you just forget unimportant things after a while because of brain capacity. but my therapist said recently that "your unconcious knows what socks your mum wore on your third birthday". it's quite intriguing, really.

According to your answers, many of you have a problem with memories. As do I. I was curious, how many, if any, of you had the same problem. I am surprised actually that except for lindi and Ashlar, most here have trouble remembering at least parts of childhood.

When I try to remember, there's almost nothing. Some random stuff might pop up, like trying to reach the doorknob of the bedroom door, but nothing of significance.

There are some things I do "remember" as facts. This and that happened that year, e.g. my parents' divorce. But I do not have any pictures, let alone moving pictures, about it. No emotions either. I know some the facts as if I read a history book. Sometimes I have the same troubles as you, roscid, the fragments dont piece together at all, and it never forms a whole story that can be chronologically put together.

I also noticed that some "memories" that I thought I had were actually just vacation pictures, that I must have seen somewhere. Same setting, no movement, no people, just the picture.

Well all in all my memory is just a big fuzzy non-existent ball of nothingness. What bugs me though, is that there MUST be something there, right? What is this? Childhood amnesia?

I think I would actually like to know what I was like and what I was thinking. Was I like this all along? Wasn't I? I have no Idea, I can only presume from what people have told me from childhood, that yes, I was kinda like this. Somewhat off. But I would actually like to see my perspective on that.

@Feleanoctis: I find it quite astounding that you let your therapist hypnoticize you. I mean in a good way. I don't think I could do that.

2 or 3 scenes is all, with an occasional event that will trigger another. I can see myself in those memories which I'm told is a sign of the memory being false. So if those memories are false then there's nothing.

But SPD isn't my working DX... (Though at one time it was...)

Dezzi wrote:There are some things I do "remember" as facts. This and that happened that year, e.g. my parents' divorce. But I do not have any pictures, let alone moving pictures, about it. No emotions either. I know some the facts as if I read a history book. Sometimes I have the same troubles as you, roscid, the fragments dont piece together at all, and it never forms a whole story that can be chronologically put together.

it's exactly the same for me, also with my parents' breakup. which is weird because i was supposedly devastated, stopped talking, started bedwetting, etc. but i don't remember a single thing. i read somewhere that there is no scientific basis for repressed memories, but to me, there is no other explanation.

I also noticed that some "memories" that I thought I had were actually just vacation pictures, that I must have seen somewhere. Same setting, no movement, no people, just the picture.

same again.

Well all in all my memory is just a big fuzzy non-existent ball of nothingness. What bugs me though, is that there MUST be something there, right? What is this? Childhood amnesia?

our brain is protecting us from feelings we can't deal with, so why not memories. just to be clear though, what you consider traumatic is entirely subjective, it doesn't have to be anything anyone else would care about. could be entirely insignificant to someone else.

I too don't have a lot of memories from childhood. I COULD tell you what I ate that day ( I seem to remember a lot of food memories) and times when I was embarrassed or angry with something. I stared a lot as a child, my whole family does, and I remember being at a restaurant and a family next to us called us out for staring at them...

Dezzi wrote:Do you remember it clearly with moving pictures and faces, like a movie?

Or do you experience it as a blur or is it practically non-existent?

i'm not a guy who spends time in the past. there's some daydreaming going on at times, but this is usually all future-oriented. if i tried to recall things, i wouldn't be too successful. & i'm not looking forward to nostalgia & memories either. i had a normal childhood, parental attention, warmth, care, etc, but despite all that i don't miss my childhood. politically speaking, i dislike conservatism & traditionalism, so seems like i'm being consistent & there's a more holistic mindset here. but i understand that your memories can be a great source of inspiration, solace, mobilization, relaxation, etc; if tracking down your past does good for you, good for you (y)

I am not interested in remembering my childhood. I don't want to remember it anyway. It's fine with me if it is just one black hole.

I think of my childhood a lot. My memories are fragmented, but I remember many details about houses that we used to live in and my grandparents' houses. I can imagine them visually but I also remember many smells and kinesthetic sensations. I found wallpapers, different materials and anything that made patterns interesting and spent a lot of time exploring my surroundings.
I also remember the toys and books that I loved best and my feelings towards them. Oh, and my favourite clothes.
I have good memories of spending time outdoors and "communicating" with wild animals, dogs, cats and horses. I lost this ability when I grew up, but some of it has returned.

My memories of my family are more negative. I can't get in touch with any positive feelings towards my parents during my childhood although I know that I loved them. I have photos of us together but I don't have any actual memories of many of those moments, unless something negative happened at the time.

I can fuzzily picture things if I concentrate. I'd say my memory of childhood is worse than usual. My brother remembers all kinds of things I don't.

Back when I had a shrink, she asked me to keep a journal for a week of what was going on in my life and at the end of the week she read it and commented that the whole thing was just flat reporting of facts... there weren't really events as such or any reactions or analysis.

My childhood memories are sort of the same. I watched a lot of TV. We had two cats. I can kind of picture the hall outside my third grade classroom. When my grandpa died, the Ten Commandments was on TV and they had yellow wallpaper. The wake was at my uncle's house it had a grassy slope in the front yard. I think it was sunny.

Anyway, my memory seems like it's made of up of snapshots of things as they were, rather than films of events as they happened.