Here's a strange question.....

[clemma]

Ok, so I'm hoping one of you good folks out there will know the answer.

 

I desperately need to remember my childhood. I remember next to nothing about my life before the age of 14. Just snippets of senior school, nothing of junior or infants. I know I went to France when I was 7 and Italy when I was 11 but remember nothing about these holidays.

 

The reason I need to remember is a painful one - there is some reason as to why my memories may have been blocked, but I need them unblocking.

 

I know hypnosis may help, but is that actually something you can get on the NHS (am very doubtful....). Surely most people can remember their childhoods after a certain age?

 

Any help would be appreciated!!!

[locutus]

I would defiantly consult your GP and see what he can recommend.

[unbelievably angelic]

Clemma, I think you would need to seek advice from someone suitably qualified. Perhaps talk things over for a good while before you go down this path. It's not the kind of thing that's easily accessible for good reason. Dealing with someone you can 'buy' from the yellow pages is not a good idea.

I have memories from being a toddler, but certainly can't remember every holiday I had as a child. The memories I do have have obviously been helped along the way by photos and snippets from my family.

[clemma]

Ok, so I will try my GP. When I say I remember nothing, I do mean NOTHING. Photos only show me that I was there, but they do not make me remember. Most people I know remember junior school (or at least their teachers names) and Senior school.....it wasn't years ago. I'm only 31, and this has been an ongoing thing for years now, only now I think I know why I can't remember so it has become an issue for me.

 

Take my OH as an example. We were in the same form at school, I can remember this because everything after 14 years old is still in my head. However, he will mention things we did, teachers, other pupils etc., etc and it means nothing to me. He has shown me photos of people on Facebook, people we went to school with - most of them, again, mean nothing to me.

 

As for being a toddler, zip. I don't even remember the day my sister was born (I would have been 5) although I'm thinking that's one thing that I should. It's not just forgetfulness - it's like all my memories have gone.

 

Anyway, I will contact my GP and go from there. Thanks people.

[Guest wino]

Good luck Clemma. I agree that your GP should be the first point of call. For whatever the reason you have blocked out these memories your GP will be able to point you in the right direction of specialists to help you. By just going to a hypnotist might help you remember but not how to cope with what you may find.

[sillygirl1]

Clemma, I don't remember lots of my childhood, my earlieset memories starts in junior school and just prior to moving when I was 8, nearly nine.

 

I have memory problems (short term terrible, mid term and long term fine) so it may be that other parts of your memory are working fine.

 

Viruses can do this, even if you have a cold you can forget things you did that day.... I know coz I had a bad cold a couple of years ago and forgot I knew how to type properly.... had to be sent home in a cab because I couldn't remember much at all. Turns out it was a reaction to antibiotics.....

 

If you are on any medication get that checked, even a change of maker can have a bad effect (epecially diabetes tablets...

[clemma]

Thanks peeps

 

I have no problems now with my memory - both short term and long term. Everything from age 15 onwards is not so much of a blur - if someone talks about something we did after this age then I remember. It's strange - it's as if I did nothing before I was 14, or I had been asleep all that time so have nothing to remember. I am going to call my GP today and go from there.

[SOD'EM]

I'm just wondering if there is a possible link with puberty. As an adult, your memory seems fine now. Just a thought. Maybe you can contact old school friends on a website such as Friends Reunited or something. Talking about stories may bring your mind to recall.

 

 

 

I don't suppose you remeber that £20 I lent you when you was 10?

[MONX]

Be very careful, I would also consider the addage "let sleeping dogs lie". If you have blocked those memories due to some kind of trauma it might be as well not to go digging. Dealing with those "found" memories as an adult may answer your questions but may give you an emotional hill to climb.

[reallymadwoman]

I can only emphasise how important it is to talk this through with someone qualified before even considering any sort of 'treatment' to unblock memories. I also have very little memory of my childhood, but I know that there's a very good reason why I don't remember and with the assistance of my therapist made the decision that's it's in my best interests to leave things as they are.

[clemma]

I'm probably the same as you madwoman, and maybe you're right. Some things may well be best forgotten, but I've been seeking the truth for years, and I'm part way there by finding my sister who left at 15 (and who I hadn't been in contact with again until a few months ago). Haven't been able to get an appointment yet (it's one of those GP's were you can only make an appointment on the day......).

[hilaryfrances]

believe it or not I can remember being in my pram

[clemma]

Yeah my sister can remember things from when she was very, very young. My parents fostered her when she was 15 months old, but she remembers the time she was at her real parents. She even remembers stopping me learning to walk. Memory is a weird thing!

[maroondevo52]

Clemma,

 

I can't remember much from my childhood, just wee snippets, maybe a good thing.

[Guest Cartaphilus]

I'm the opposite, in that I remember mostly everything ... Just how I am, gets stored away, usually comes in handy later on either for me or for someone else.

 

As to the hypnosis ... am with some of the others on this, I'd first speak to the GP, because very often ... I find it hard to 'remember' things but ... I can easily forget something I just did seconds ago, really struggle like mad to get it back ... suddenly it's back again ... it may be just something, just guessing, you are really trying to remember ... very often it's called 'flitting' ... in that your memory may jumble things up, 'hide' things from you, it's still there, because in terms of storage capacity ... your mind remembers a whole lot more than just memories, of course. The problem with hypnosis, is that it must be done by someone who knows exactly, by that I mean someone with experience and qualifications. ... Unfortunately, it has become a 'fad' it seems with some NHS departments ...

 

As to book on the day .... possibly every GP does that these days ... Regretably, because it was far easier when you could book in advance for convenience sakes. Now, it's a free for all after 8 am, phones off the hook, engaged ... Puts you off or can do TBH.

 

You may even find, as I do, that suddenly one day, things will just 'pop out' and make sense. Very often it's seemingly unrelated things that prompt the memory, but of course that's how memory stores things, varies from person to person, no two will remember, store the same way.

 

Mines possibly a lot like a rather big, old dusty library, often it helps to visualise memory ...

 

But GP first, yes, just to rule out any other things in case. If something needs to be remembered, then it will come in time. If you need to know it, then it will come back. But, least said soonest mended sometimes, and ... as someone said to me once when I considered trying to access other memories I wanted to know about, some things should stay in the past.

 

Let us know how you get on anyway.