How unusual is it to not remember anything from your primary years

[Seaberries]

My dh doesn’t seem to remember a single thing, no faces no places, nothing. I find this really strange. He did move houses a lot and went to two primary schools but so did we with our dc so now and they remember everything. He acts like he never went and says he just can’t remember anything at all. His mum will tell him stories about people he was friends with and he doesn’t remember anything.

Does he have trauma in his childhood which means that he wants to forget the past?

Has he ever had a head injury or taken drugs (which might have affected his memory)?

My brother always used to claim that he didn't remember a thing before the age of about 12-13. I don't know how common this is. Our parents were a bit shit but nothing major really.

I don’t remember a lot of my primary years. It is quite unusual apparently.

No obvious trauma that I know of or has ever been mentioned, he’s never done drugs ever and hardly drinks. I find it kind of odd but he genuinely can’t seem to remember anything at all. It’s like it never happened. I don’t know anyone else like this hence asking this.

I genuinely can’t remember much of my childhood. My therapist said that’s very common with trauma but I can’t remember anything traumatic happening either, certainly not physical or sexual abuse. I remember a few things from family holidays but not the day to day. I have the odd memories if I really think hard, but nothing under the age of 10

DH is like this, I don't know why. I wouldn't say his childhood was traumatic, but his parents do seem rather uninterested in him. Even as an adult, maybe that has something to do with it.

It depends whether you have friends or family to help you reinforce memories - e.g. do you remember when… conversations.

I have three school friends who I have know since the age of 3 and we talk about the past a lot (reinforcing memories) but my nuclear family all died very early so I am losing lots of memories about family holidays, christmases, other happy times, and it makes me so sad.

I remember hardly anything from my childhood at all, odd memory but nothing more. I did have a shit childhood though so maybe that's linked.

His mum and dad still meet up with the parents of people he went to primary school with now they’ve moved back to the area. That makes it even more strange for me because his mum will show dh photos of him with his primary school friends and point out his friend and show him pictures of the same friend now and dh says he doesn’t remember them at all. Doesn’t even remember ever being friends with them. The friend does remember dh.

I don't remember anything either but I had severe trauma in year 1 second school which I think accounts for it

I don't remember much at all, definitely not the day to day. I am astounded when I hear people talk about remembering specific routines, like we always had fish fingers for tea on a Tuesday or happy events like my favourite aunt bought me the best teddy for my 8th birthday.

Only in recent years I've come across the idea that this is common if you've had a shitty and traumatic childhood. I didn't know I had until I started piecing these sorts of puzzle pieces together.

I have about 10 memories from infant school
age (4-9) I think 1 factor is if you move around a lot it’s probably harder to remember things, another would be if your family talked about things that happened and reinforced the memories or if there’s lots of photos to help you remember.

I remember very little, and have a poor recollection of even a few years ago really! No trauma.
I think it’s because I have so much to remember and keep on top of day to day that there’s just not enough room! I’m happy to look forward not back too, which probably doesn’t help memory.

My DH is similar. His parents divorced when he was 4 and a few years later his mum re-married a man with other children. His step-dad was and still is horrid, his mum would leave DH with an emotionally abusive relative when she worked and his childhood must have been awful.

I have memories from 3, my nursery, recall holidays, friends names, teachers, clothes I wore, meals we had out etc. I had my own trauma as a child though. My mum had a life changing accident when I was 5 and my dad suddenly died when I was 15. Different type of trauma to DH though.

No idea if relevant/related, but DH also has a terrible sense of direction. We've lived in our current home nearly 5yrs, yet he'll often not know how to get to shops we don't go to as often. It took him ages to know the way to local shops! When returning to the carpark, he will often walk in the opposite direction to where the car is. If I'm trying to describe a place/shop/persons house, he doesn't seem to be able to visualise it. I'm the opposite. I can drive somewhere and will often find it again without the sat nav, I guess using landmarks? I rarely get lost and can see/imagine places/roads/houses in my head.

Neither of us have health issues, ND and DH's memory thing isn't new. We've been together 25yrs and he has been the same since his 20's. We are all just different I guess. Sorry this turned out very long! 😬

I’m the opposite I can even remember the shoes I wore when I started reception, everything is very clear from many years ago.My other half remembers nothing, he is unable to recall the names of his classmates, the holidays he went on, the presents he received. He is unable to recall anything about his childhood.There is no trauma I just can’t understand all those years just being blank.

I remember next to nothing and I think it’s because I have blocked it all out, state of preservation.

I have very few primary school memories. No trauma or injuries but I do suffer from face-blindness and have a shockingly bad memory for names if that’s in any way related.

I still know the names and birthdays of everyone in my primary school class! Wish I could exchange that useless information for remembering to take stuff out the freezer or similar!

I do remember bits and bobs. I went to a private convent which fed onto a senior school private convent. I do often wonder about those who I didn’t see again. I remember a few teachers who would now be long dead. I’m 56 now so I don’t think it’s weird not to remember much.

I remember my childhood very vividly, down to many conversations, but this seems to be unusual.

I’d say it’s quite unusual. I remember a lot.

I don’t remember my early years. I actually have very little memory of my childhood up to about age 13. I remember odd things but very little. The things I do remember are related to very traumatic events so when I had therapy she suggested I had moved the “normal” memories into the same box as the traumatic ones and didn’t want to recall them as they are linked.

Well I don’t remember what we had on a Tuesday but I do remember meals, beauty and bath products me and my mum used.

I also remember 2 girls in infant school, Donna and Nina. Donna was only there a year or so but I went to her birthday party aged 7. Nina came back briefly in junior school then left. I played with her a lot in infant school.

I have so few memories of primary school. Can't remember friend's names, teacher's names, what we did, what the uniform was like (I am 40 so not young, but not old either!). I have a few snippets that I do remember, but it's like up until the age of 13 or 14 there's a big void in my memory if I'm being honest.

My sister has always said she doesn't remember much before the age of about 11. My datable memories go back to the age of 2! It's strange, isn't it? My husband remembers being potty-trained - this was the early 1960s so he'd have been under the age of two as they potty-trained as soon as it was humanly possible in the days of terry nappies.