Discussion Missing memories

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Furnace, Feb 2, 2021.

  1. Furnace

    Furnace Well-Known Member

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    I was reading through this Reddit thread and I noticed one post.

    The post talked about how the Redditor was assaulted by his sister over the course of his childhood and how he does not remember any of his memories except the assault.

    This got me thinking and made me realize that except for one painful memory with my friend, when I was about 9 (I started becoming more introverted after that. I could never bring myself to start getting close to people and considering them 'friends' again), I have very few memories of my childhood except for a few regrets. Everything before the event is almost non-existent and even if I am shown photographs, I am not able to recall most of my childhood. My family is good and there I don't think the problem could have originated from there.

    So I want to know if not remembering your childhood is common, or is it just being repressed?
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2021
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  2. Deleted member 41274

    Deleted member 41274 Guest

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    I remember a lot. Are you a grandpa?
     
  3. Furnace

    Furnace Well-Known Member

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    Yes, if 19 is considered a grandpa.
     
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  4. Hamski

    Hamski Well-Known Member

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    I can only remember a few things before I was 13. I believe we are the minority though. I always see posts where parents take some kid on a fancy trip to Disney or something, and the comments always say something along the lines of "That kid now has an amazing lifelong memory," and I've never been able to understand. If it were me who met some celebrity or something when I was 9, you could bet your ass I would have forgotten it. The only things I can remember are very small snippets.
     
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  5. Fulminata

    Fulminata Typo-ist | Officer of Heavenly Inc. |

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    I suggest to check with your doctor :cookie:
     
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  6. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

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    It is common to not remember your childhood. Most teens can't remember the days after they were born. Most adults can't remember the days before their 6th birthday. Most old-timers can't remember the days before their 12th birthdays.

    What they can remember are snippets and scenes of some very significant moments. In many cases, they remember it happened, but not exactly how it happened, as in they remember graduating high school, but they don't remember what happened during the graduation ceremony. Some people would remember the scene when they met their best friend, but they don't remember how exactly that came to happen. Some people remember mowing the lawn with friends, or having sex with their wives, but without the aid of pictures, they can't remember their faces.

    Of course there are exceptions. Some people remember more. Some people remember less. Some people can remember even their childbirth. Ai-chan can remember the scene when Ai-chan just a baby and Ai-chan's mother was holding Ai-chan trying to hail a bus. But in general, it is normal not to remember much about your childhood.
     
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  7. OurPrinceNiki

    OurPrinceNiki Well-Known Member

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    If I were to spend time in recalling things I can remember them but only for significant details. Like what happened in a specific year in a specific month, for the days... Sometimes yes, sometimes no it mainly depends if an important event happened that day
     
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  8. judeiiro

    judeiiro radish

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    I think it's pretty normal? I can't speak for traumatic experiences (like the reddit post linked) though. Everyone has different memory capacities. Our brain is constantly replacing information in our heads-- think of a recycling center lol unused/redundant information will be dumped to make space for newer information. Memories also depend on how impactful they are to you; which I assume tend to be either really shocking, sad, exciting or some heightened emotions that occurred. Some might seem really redundant but you remember them anyway because it unconsciously impacted you in some shape or form at that moment in time.
    This memory used to be very vivid and I'd dream of it when I was younger. I only know it's a memory because my mom confirmed it lol Now, it's just a smudge of bright yellow with a dab of red.

    Basically, when I was 3/4 and I visited my mom in the hospital (baby brother's birth lol). My dad got her a bouquet of red roses.
    Why's the memory yellow? Because it was really sunny and kiddo me couldn't stand it :blobjoy: If it wasn't for the superbly bright sun, I probably wouldn't have remembered this moment lol
    Personally, I don't remember a lot of my childhood/schooling years and when my parents tell me things that I did, it's like listening to another parent's kid because I don't remember doing it lol I used to think it was weird that I couldn't remember but most of the time I don't even remember what I did the week before so yeah, pretty usual.
     
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