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Metaphysics & Psychology

Memories of a past life can trigger PTSD

By T.K. Randall
December 9, 2014 · Comment icon 14 comments

Recalling one's own death would be undoubtedly distressing. Image Credit: sxc.hu
Children with vivid memories of a past life may be vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson, a psychologist at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik who has been researching cases of children with memories of a past life, has documented multiple cases in which the actual recollection of dying has led the child to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

This phenomenon is thought to be most prevalent in cases where the death being recalled was traumatic, such as in the case of a soldier being killed on the battlefield or the victim of a plane crash.

Haraldsson found that children with the most vivid past-life memories frequently exhibited behavioral problems including difficulty concentrating, outbursts of anger and an intense fear of the particular situation in which they had allegedly perished during their previous existence.
Dr. Jim Tucker also reported similar findings in his book Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives. "In the cases in which the previous person died an unnatural death, over 35 percent of the children show an intense fear of the mode of death," he wrote.

Whether these cases genuinely demonstrate examples of children recalling how they previously died however remains a matter of some debate. While the subjects may be experiencing legitimate behavioral problems it could be that the reincarnation hypothesis is being applied to an existing psychological disorder as oppose to the disorder being caused by memories of a past life.

The results of these studies, as always, remain both controversial and inconclusive.

Source: Epoch Times | Comments (14)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #5 Posted by Razer 10 years ago
It's up to the parents to take notice of stuff like Reincarnation when the child brings it up. It's a shame that most parents will just discount it as a Dream/Nightmare, or something you watched on TV. I actually think it is the parents that encourage this sort of thinking. The child can make some off the wall comment and then the parents reinforce it leading the child to make up a story to go along with the reinforcement. Children have all sorts of attention seeking behaviors and if making up a story gets attention and or approval, a story will be made.
Comment icon #6 Posted by darkmoonlady 10 years ago
I had it for most of my childhood and it isn't the parents fault. My first words were about my past life where I drowned, luckily with a Mom who didn't have a closed mind about it. I didn't understand though for a long time that a sound I heard in my head repeatedly that kept me up and felt like it would drive me crazy was possibly connected to my past life. I finally at age 12 or so told my Mom about the sound and she said maybe it was the sound of water lapping in your ear and the last thing you heard as you died. Her making the connection and me realizing she was right, I believe released i... [More]
Comment icon #7 Posted by Calibeliever 10 years ago
Good topic. As steve mentioned, I it's important for parents to try and listen to what their child is saying to them and not dismiss anything they don't understand out-of-hand. Razer makes a good point too though about children seeking attention. An approach of "trust but verify" would seem best to me. Listen to the child but keep a skeptical mind and try to get to the truth of the matter. My advice to anyone who thinks they might have a child who suffers from this is document/record everything. Gather as much evidence as you can for your and the child's sake and research any facts the child t... [More]
Comment icon #8 Posted by Scrunchkruckets 10 years ago
aaah I dunno.. igot a past life reading done and I was told I died in a plane crash and that's why I have a fear of planes in this life.. but who knows.. if It was true I would have remembered it, not have someone else tell me.. but I dunno..
Comment icon #9 Posted by highdesert50 10 years ago
Some research indicates that those children who have these fragmented memories of past life experiences (PLE) tend to have higher scores for day-dreaming, attention seeking, and disassociation than those children who do not exhibit PLE memories. These cases are most often found in countries where a belief in incarnation occurs.
Comment icon #10 Posted by shrooma 10 years ago
if it's reincarnation, memories of a past life/death, then wouldn't it make the after-effect pre-post traumatic stress? or post-pre traumatic stress....? .
Comment icon #11 Posted by spartan max2 10 years ago
if it's reincarnation, memories of a past life/death, then wouldn't it make the after-effect pre-post traumatic stress? or post-pre traumatic stress....? . or like Post-post traumatic stress
Comment icon #12 Posted by kobolds 10 years ago
"Recalling one's own death would be undoubtedly distressing" as time goes by , you will get use to it
Comment icon #13 Posted by docyabut2 10 years ago
As one that does not believe in reincarnation anymore, but memory cells past down, from generations to generations. Its like some physic's can see and feel into a person`s death. Also people or kids can see into those past memories recorded of people that had lived and died before them.
Comment icon #14 Posted by shrooma 10 years ago
As one that does not believe in reincarnation anymore, but memory cells past down, from generations to generations. Its like some physic's can see and feel into a person`s death. Also people or kids can see into those past memories recorded of people that had lived and died before them. . agreed. genetic memory is more believable than reincarnation. .


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