Do We Remember Trauma From Very Early Childhood?

[Jagged Angel]

I've been reading a few personal stories here, where people have said things about their trauma starting 'in the womb' or they had a traumatic birth. Now, I'm not disputing that this happens, what I want to know is: is it possible to remember these things? Does a trauma in the womb or at birth actually contribute to PTSD?

I know that these are two different questions - you don't have to remember a trauma to be affected by it.

Being an academic, I'd love to know if there are any studies on this... I can't find any through my usual channels of enquiry (Google Scholar and the databases at my uni)

 

[stripe]

I've only done year 12 psych so am in no way the most reliable person, but since no one else has replied, this is what I remember from class... The development of memory is thought to be associated with the development of language, so when children start speaking is when memories become possible. I don't know of any studies on it, but the language part might help you find something. However my psych teacher (also a psychologist.. relevant I guess) did discuss people who have memories of their birth and such, and he seemed to think although there isn't scientific evidence for it, it shouldn't be dismissed as impossible. I definitely don't know about the 2nd question. Sorry, sort of an answer but not an answer! Hopefully someone who knows more about it will reply :)

 

[catjudo]

I'm not sure about specific examples but do think I've seen some people who have talked about PTSD from a traumatic birth...but they were the mother giving birth not the baby being born. While I don't have PTSD symptoms from my childbirth experience, it was fairly dramatic and when others have heard about it were horrified. I know there are people who have much more traumatizing experiences and near death experiences in child birth and could imagine it potentially leading to ASD or even PTSD.

I don't know about trauma "starting in the womb" but in some cases could it be that you've misunderstood what people have stated as the cause of their ptsd?

 

[becvan]

Please read #6 here: [DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/content/298-Repressed-Memories[/DLMURL] That information on memory formation is taken form Early Childhood Development Books and is commonly found in Psych books dealing with Amnesia. If you want to find studies I would suggest looking into those two subjects for starters. The information was in both classes in College so I know its out there. :)

bec

 

[Jagged Angel]

Thank you. Catjudo, i don't think I'm mistaken. People here have actually said 'my trauma began in the womb' and suggest that this has led to some form of PTSD. I tried to find studies on it, but all I found was studies on women who had given birth and gotten PTSD, not studies on the child. I don't know much about memory, so it intrigued me.

Thank you for pointing me towards that, Becvan. I really did not think that a paper on repressed memories would help me, and so I didn't previously look at it. I have now looked at studies on memories before the age of three, and have discovered exactly what that paper said: it is highly unreliable and unlikely that people retain memories formed before age three. This basically answers my question, however, I ma now wondering if people can hold a body memory of some form without having the memory itself form... I think I'll wander off and find out more about memory in early childhood

 

[becvan]

Hehe your welcome. You body holding memories that your brain does not recall is called Somatic memory. It is listed as symptom of C-PTSD actually. Look up that and it will lead you in the direction you are seeking. :)

bec

 

[bluecat]

Hi,
my oldest memory, which is not traumatic in any way is very intangible. Its of this awareness of my twin sister next to me and sort of thinking without thinking that she's part of me, same like my limbs. Just being there. I am not even trying to figure out the age : )

The first more tangible memory is from the time when I wasn't speaking yet, but understood well, so maybe between 2 or 3 years of age? I was at my grandmother's with my twin sister and I was really intrigued by some colorful beads. My grandmother strictly told me to not eat them, but I waited till she turns around and ate one silver one and then one golden one. I remember having the sensation that each tastes really good, because they were so pretty.

These are not memories that came from someone in my family telling me this, I remember them. Not the way I describe them, differently, just like a state of being. I like them, that was when things were still normal : )

 

[Cthulhu]

I have almost no memories before the age of about 13 years. Well, I also do not have many from all the later times of my life.
My two first own memories are...
when my father played with me. He hid a musical clock under his shirt and asked me again and again where it was. I must have been very young, maybe 2-3 years old.
In the other I got stinged by a wasp while I was trying to catch it with my hands. I remember the hurt and also the thought that I didn't want my mother to recognize it, because I didn't want to get comforted and didn't even want her to know that anything had happened.

I know I had a really traumatic birth, my parents told the story from time to time. The umbilical cord was around my neck when I was born, they say that I had a blue skin colour. The nurse packed me into paper towel and gave me to my father. He, very irritated, held me away from him for some minutes. His only thought in that moment was "Hopefully it isn't mentally disabled".
A quite weird thing and surely not the normal way to handle a new-born baby in hospital.
I was odd since I was born and I do not know why... A birth-related trauma could explain it, until now I found no other possible reason for that.

 

[ams]

There is infantile amnesia that prevents people from remembering anything prior to 18 months old. There may be biological factors that lift the amnesia in the transition from 12 to 18 months, but in some cases it's not lifted until 2 years old. Unless there is an important person in your life feeding you information that you experienced a trauma when you were an infant, and tells you what happened, you won't remember. You can, however, create false memories and experience anxiety disorders as a result. This is exactly why it's unethical for anyone, including a therapist, to tell you information that even slightly hints at you experiencing a trauma.