Can memories from early childhood return?

Question

Kind of weird but I had childhood cancer from 2-5 years old and barely remember anything but the past couple years a lot of memories have been coming back, friends that died, just general memories of the hospital, etc. Is it abnormal that memories would return 20 years later?

Answer 1

Yes! Yes! It can happen. If you had stressful events when you were young, and a fight with cancer certainly qualifies as a stressful event, other events from that period of your life would be "supressed" or put in the "back shelf of your mind".

Something like that happened to me when I got to college. My parents had a rough marriage that ended in divorce. It was pretty turbulent and stressful. About the time I was eighteen or nineteen strange memories/dreams/feelings began "haunting" me. An art museum with grand paintings and a white building kept popping up in my dreams. Other strange images also haunted my sleep.

I asked my mother about those images and dreams. The art museum was real. It was the art museum at the University of Illinois. My sister and I would ride our bikes there on summer afternoons, and I had completly forgotten about it utill I was eighteen or nineteen! Other images from even earlier in my life came back to me about the same time, events from when I was two or three years old.

So yes, it does happen. I hope all is well with you today!

Answer 2

The answer is YES. What you did was you "stuffed" this into
your subconscious. The memory was too great for you to handle and you blocked it from your memory. This is very common with a tramatic episode.

It means you are ready to deal with the stuff now. God often
helps you suppress these memories to help you cope. He did
with me. I was sexually abused & in a counseling session I
remembered the event - which I stuffed far into my subconscious
from over 25 yrs. ago. This is not uncommon. At that point you
really need a counselor to help you deal with these memories.
Don't try & do it alone. You might need some meds to help with
the anxiety you are feeling. I also had a bad marriage - I now have no memory of it. I believe God did that for me so I could stop hurting. I don't need to think about my ex - so I am ok with it.
But if you are uncomfortable, you may need counseling to deal
with it. Only you know where you are in this - pray about it and see what God tells you. It's a start.

Good luck!

Answer 3

The memoriess may not return but the imbedded emotions, from that period of life may be a factor in many of your reactions to incidental things.

Long term memory is often experienced as one gets older What you are relating suggests that the dying of others in that hospital created an emotional response at the time, and it has been retained all this time. Something you experienced touched that trigger and brought that memory out.

Answer 4

Yes, memories can return. It's the same with a small child who was raped, molested, or saw something traumatic. We have a tendency to push all the bad stuff to the back of our minds and forget it happened. We do this to protect ourselves from things we cannot handle dealing with. They are coming back on you now because you are ready to face it and deal with it.
The same thing happened with me, I was repeatedly raped as a child and didn't remember it till I was in my 20's.

Answer 5

I think thats pretty much normal because i would remeber random things from my childhood, i mean RANDOM THINGS that i wouldnt expect myself to remember. I got bad memory too like i would forget what i just did a couple days ago, but its weird how i remember RANDOM things from when i was a lil kid. take care.

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

yes its normal to have memories thank God you do after what you went through as a child you poor thing Im glad your ok and you recall your past thats great!

Answer 8

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