Nostalgia is a term that describes the feeling of longing for aspects of the past that people feel a strong emotional connection to. For example, some people experience childhood nostalgia, where they wish to return to an earlier point in time when they felt the happiest and most carefree.
Your grief about your childhood is completely legitimate. Sadness, anger, despair, longing, sorrow, rage, resentment… all of these are appropriate responses to the experience you had.
You might be nostalgic for simpler days and miss your childhood. It could mean you're exhausted from the current situation in your life. Often, it's said people miss their childhood because they're bored. It can be a sign of loneliness.
The human brain is continuously using comparisons in everyday situations to understand things, people, feelings, moments better. So when we recall positive memories, we unconsciously compare them to the present moment. What if the now is unpleasant? This possibility makes the reminiscence so painful.
We often will feel sad and cry after a highly traumatic event. The crying can be a way for the nervous system to come down from the fight-or-flight response, since crying is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system which calms the mind and body.
Some would probably say 18 years old, others may say 21 years old, and rental car companies would tell me 25 years old. In reality, the end of childhood is actually subjective. Although the legal definition of a child is “a person under eighteen years of age,” the duration of childhood varies.
By the time they're 18 months old, kids know when you're sad, even if you're not bawling. Babies tend to wear their hearts on their tiny little sleeves.
While infants vary in their sensitivity, research shows that babies do, indeed, sense and react to their parents' emotional cues. Generally speaking, they're picking up on what you're giving off. Can a baby sense your mood?
Crying easily can be a symptom of depression, anxiety, or a lot of stress in your life. Since HSPs feel so deeply and can experience sensory overload, we're more susceptible to strong feelings of depression or anxiety. We might feel alone in our sensitivity or isolate ourselves to reduce excess stimuli.
On the downside of the nostalgia spectrum lies nostalgic depression: While this isn't considered an official mental health disorder or diagnosis, the term is used to describe the negative emotions—such as sadness, regret, or loss—that people sometimes feel in the present when thinking about memories from their past.
In truth, nostalgia is not always going to bring you the warm and fuzzies, so it's normal to feel sad or bummed out when you think back on certain memories.
Emotional overreactions are a common symptom of trauma. A victim of trauma might redirect their overwhelming emotions towards others, such as family and friends. Because these unresolved emotions are always bubbling beneath the surface, any incident that brings feelings forward can unleash these pent-up emotions.
A child with PTSD has constant, scary thoughts and memories of a past event. A traumatic event, such as a car crash, natural disaster, or physical abuse, can cause PTSD. Children with PTSD may relive the trauma over and over again. They may have nightmares or flashbacks.
Without treatment, repeated childhood exposure to traumatic events can affect the brain and nervous system and increase health-risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, eating disorders, substance use, and high-risk activities).
Most Americans (67%) stopped expecting Santa to shimmy down their chimney by the time they entered seventh grade. Half (49%) of Americans say they stopped believing in Santa before the age of 10 – with a quarter (23%) reporting that they lost sight of him between the ages of seven (10%) and eight (13%).
childhood, period of the human lifespan between infancy and adolescence, extending from ages 1–2 to 12–13.
Infants (1 month to 1 year) Children (1 year through 12 years) Adolescents (13 years through 17 years. They may also be referred to as teenagers depending on the context.)
Cognitive Signs of Unhealed Trauma
You may experience nightmares or flashbacks that take you back to the traumatic event. Furthermore, you may struggle with mood swings, as well as disorientation and confusion, which can make it challenging to perform daily tasks.
Moreover, crying has a physiological effect on the body, such as releasing neurochemical substances that can improve mood. When people shed tears out of pain or joy, crying is an emotional response to a psychological condition. Its importance cannot be minimized. It may reflect normal psychological functioning.
Emotional Trauma Symptoms
Psychological Concerns: Anxiety and panic attacks, fear, anger, irritability, obsessions and compulsions, shock and disbelief, emotional numbing and detachment, depression, shame and guilt (especially if the person dealing with the trauma survived while others didn't)
It's OK to miss your old life. But although things will never be the same as before, as time goes on and your baby becomes more independent, it does get easier to find the time you need to regain a sense of self.” Remember it took 9 months to grow your baby. You're not going to just return to your old self straightway.