Stuck in age

[CatInTree]

I'm in my mid 20s. I was 20 when I was traumatized.

Earlier this week I was talking with my mom on the phone. My dad has a big birthday this year, so we were making plans. In my head I started doing the math of how old he was when I was born. I took his current age and removed 20 years from it. My thought was "huh, that's older than I thought". It was several hours until I realized why that was.

This isn't the only time something like that has happened. I keep having to remind myself that I'm not 20 anymore. I had a major life event (of the positive kind) when I was 16, and I've always managed to keep track of how long ago that was. When I was 24 I calculated which day a third of my life had passed since then and was very aware of it that day. I've also found that grounding techniques I can somehow link to it work better on me.

Is this stuck in age thing common? Is there some explanation of why I'm so aware that it's about a decade since I was 16 when I'm convinced that I'm 20?

 

[Virtues]

I don't know if this is common or not, but although I don't have this "symptom" I am unaware of my age. I have been since post trauma. I have to ask my wife all the time how old I am. I know I'm 38 this year, going to be 39 in June, but I only know this because I know my wife is a year older than I am and this year is her BIG 40th BIRTHDAY!!! Every year leading up to this year, if I needed to know my age for a piece of documentation, I had to ask her how old I was. Normally I would guess this had something to do with my TBI, but this started long before my TBI, so I'm guessing it has something to do with my trauma. I would say I had an idea how old I was (like within a decade) but I couldn't tell you an exact age.

 

[MrMoonlight]

Is this stuck in age thing common?

I don't know how common it is but my therapist and I breached the topic this week. My trauma happened when I was twelve. She told me there are things that maybe I didn't learn from that developmental time. I don't yet know what this means for me though like all of us I'm willing to fight through it and learn lost lessons. I'll admit to feeling some shame from the realization though knowing gives me something to fight. I don't known man, I just related to your post I guess.

 

[littleoc]

Mid 20s? That's not so bad :) I'm currently 23.

Yes, I am constantly confused on the year and my age. I can usually tell you what the current year is, but under stress, I might say it's 2005, or 2011.

However, I have a TBI (apparently a mild one?), and have been getting head injuries since before I was two, so I imagine this is the main cause for me.

I manage to keep track of the current year pretty well. Maybe because this year has been really exciting, maybe because I turned 23 on the 23rd of March so that's a golden birthday so hard to forget :P

But anyway, no, I don't think you're alone

 

[Hopeforlife]

This happens to me! Never thought about it too much though. I am terrible. Sometimes I forget my sons birth date and even managed to convince my husband he was a year older some years ago. It’s worse when put on the spot too. The only way I know the date is as it’s on my computer screen at work. Strange one though...

 

[Still Standing]

Wow! I just addressed the question about why I think I was younger than I actually was during my years of abuse, an hour ago or so in my diary. Even today, after 44 years of marriage, soon to be 45, this next week, I do not remember how old I am unless I really stop to think about it. And I do not remember how old our kids are...I also have to stop and think about it...counting on my fingers. So hubby is the keeper of ages and numbers in general. I didn't even know how long we had been married until a friend asked us about this last week. I have seemed I was younger since I entered into my early 20's.

 

[Pencil]

Very common. Par for the course.

 

[MyWillow]

Curious. I also have to stop and think how old I am. It’s a real battle and yet maths comes naturally to me.