I am trying to gain a greater understanding of my childhood and its connection to my present situation and any help in the below question would be much appreciated. I remember as a child (3-6years) I went through a period where it felt like everything around me and also my thoughts would speed up to almost double time, if a person would talk to me when i was in this state they too would be talking double time. I don’t remember any bad thoughts or events triggering this feeling. I found that the only way i could slow everything down was to sing a song to myself very slowly. After a few minutes everything would go back to normal. I am currently dealing with minor depression and i am trying to connect my past to my current situation. Again any help would be appreciated.
A. It is difficult to make the connection from your childhood to your present situation based on the very little information you’ve provided. If I were meeting with you in person I’d want to know if this is the only memory you can recall.
You mentioned that there was a period between the ages of three and six in which you felt your thoughts were sped up and you slowed them down by singing a song. It is an interesting memory but it may be only a small part of what (if anything) happened to you during your childhood. Over time you may remember more details about your childhood. Maybe you could ask your mother, father or other family members what they remember about you when you were young.
Without more information it’s difficult to say what if any connection exists between your current depressive symptoms and your childhood experiences. There may be a connection but there is not enough information to know what it may be. You can draw no definitive conclusions at this time.
It is also possible that there is no direct connection between your childhood experiences and present depression symptoms. Psychoanalytic theorists believe that our childhood greatly influences our adulthood but other schools of thought don’t agree. A cognitive therapist for instance might suggest that your current depression symptoms are related to some event or feeling associated with your current life situation. In this instance a cognitive therapist would be less interested in your childhood and more focused on your present life situation.
If you’re interested in continuing to search for a connection between your past and present then it might be helpful if you keep a detailed record of all of your thoughts or memories related to your childhood. Write them down in a journal or notebook. Be sure to record every detail and do this even if you feel the thought or memory is insignificant. It might also be helpful to write down your dreams. Hypnosis might also be a way for you to access childhood memories. After logging your memories and dreams you might be able to piece together a more complete picture of your childhood. I hope this helps. Thanks for writing.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 2 Mar 2009
