Were you always a "thinker" as a child? [Archive]

GirlAfraid23

01-07-13, 15:52

According to my parents, when I was a baby/child I didn't smile or laugh much. I was always looking and as though I was taking everything in.
I've seen home videos and I seem to just stare and take things in, quite serious and ask many questions.
As I got older it was always the same, reading, thinking and giving too much thought to everything.
I think this may have shown I was anxious from an early age...

Was anyone else the same?

Speranza

01-07-13, 15:58

GirlAfraid23

01-07-13, 16:13

Yes! I was like that. I read at 3, went onto books which were far too old for me, worried about everybody and everything.

I have a poem I wrote at 4 which contains the line, "Every night I look at the sky until I am dead of the world and I do not know what to do." :ohmy:

Me too!
At age 9 I had the reading age of a 14 year old.
I also used to write poems and stories about dying, death, self harm :O murder and homelessness :S very strange. I was definitely a thinker from an early age.

Lissa101

01-07-13, 16:32

Speranza

01-07-13, 16:39

Well of course many of the great artists/writers/musicians had MH problems, I think it's something genetic tied in with creativity. Not that I'm a great artist, but I do write a lot! Certainly, if you are thinking a lot about life from a young age, if nobody helps you to look at the good things, you will find a lot to worry about!

GirlAfraid23

01-07-13, 16:40

Yep! And I was the same with reading too. My favorite thing was being in my bedroom, alone, with a book. When I was a teenager I used to look after my friends' horses when they went on holiday. I would go on long treks in the countryside and ponder just about everything - still kinds miss being able to do that.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, it's just who we are. If only I was a bit more skilled and less panicky at the thinking malarky I would make a great philosopher :) x

I'm the same now, I love going on holiday to the countryside and would pick that over a holiday abroad to as beach anyway.
When I was a teenager I used to devour book after book, pretty much finishing each one in a few days.

MelinaJane

01-07-13, 16:42

So glad someone else has noticed this pattern in their life - i'm exactly the same! As a child, I willing chose to be alone in my room, reading and thinking about life. Everyone thought there was something wrong with me, even my family, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Some people go through life without even considering life questions and phillisophical stuff - which I think is way more unhealthy!!!

GirlAfraid23

01-07-13, 16:48

The thing that worries me is that I barely smiled or laughed as a baby or toddler. Surely that's unusual?

acmillo

01-07-13, 16:51

Oh god yes. In always remember as a child watching the news and really pondering what the stories meant. I would find the stories very troubling and would often worry that events that I saw could effect people in my life. I also used to be very wary of our house going on fire' after a house a few streets away burned down. I would often get up after my parents had went to bed and make sure that all the electrical sockets were switched off. It used to really annoy my dad as he would have to reset clocks etc. Also when playing with my friends I would always hold back from doing 'boys' things like climbing trees because I always had a feeling of what if....

AndrewNolan

01-07-13, 18:37

Hi
I was the same as a child but I don't worry about that. There's a lot to be said for being quiet and contemplative and taking time out for yourself. It just means you were content which is different to being happy and which I think is far better. Happiness can be over in an instant but contenment can last a lifetime :-)

almamatters

01-07-13, 19:16

Hi yes, I was reading poetry and Charles Dickens, Jane Austen etc at the age of 9, I was very serious and curious and used to worry about everything! I used to find it hard to do anything without thinking it through for ages. So yes, serious and anxious from an early age that's me too.

PanchoGoz

01-07-13, 19:43

I was quite isolated as a child, so didn't go and play with friends every day. Spent a lot of time on my own with my imagination. I think we are born with that type of energy, and some of us channel it healthily into their creativity or productivity, but others can't and it gets trapped and goes towards anxiety and depression. Almost as if we can't handle ourselves.
I think some children are unsmiley, nothing to worry about much. I've seen a few toddling about looking as if they are trying to work out a riddle in their head the whole time.

Edie

01-07-13, 22:34

I was like this as a child too. I always thought it was to do with my depression that I didn't laugh or smile often, even in very early childhood. But later in life I have been diagnosed with autism and I think the reason for me is more to do with being autistic, which means I am just not very expressive. Although it's true that I do have depression, I also do feel happiness a lot, but just don't show it very often.

Tinker28

02-07-13, 04:10

YES! that is so me to! I have always been a thinker to. Taken in everything and not talking much. I'm so glad that I happen to stumble upon this thread because I'm have a very bad time right now. I'm starting to re-think this while being " Alive" thing. I'm having a hard time cause I'm not really able to talk to people very well I can talk but I always seem to not say the right things or don't know what to say to people and its really effecting my life. Does anyone know what I mean?

Speranza

02-07-13, 10:16

Do you mean you are wondering *whether* to be alive?

I think lots of people on here would say they have problems relating to people, but hey - we are all on here doing fine! :)

Tinker28

02-07-13, 12:01

Yes to be alive. I'm not fine with dealing with the public. I hate how I am.

Speranza

02-07-13, 12:08

Which parts of your life are reasonably okay at the moment? Is there *anything* you look forward to, any friends or family you really get on with?

Tinker28

03-07-13, 02:35

There is nothing I look forward to except sleep. I have 2 friends and they are busy a lot. I have a young son which I'm raising alone but I'm doing a real shitty job of apparently. I m not good at anything at all. Nothing.im good at being sad.

Speranza

03-07-13, 09:05

I guess somebody else has told you you are doing a bad job? :mad: If you are feeling this low, getting up every day for him is great parenting. You're good at spelling, so that's two things. How about cooking? When you're not feeling low? Or caring about people, when you're not so tired? :hugs:

Magic

03-07-13, 10:23

My mum had six children. She had me when she was forty five. I was the youngest and on my own at eight years old the others had left or married.
Lots of people thought my mum was my gran.
I read a lot, and was on my own. I could knit. My dad had tought me.
We had no TV. I had a dog and spent a lot of time taking him out.
Had a few friends, but had to play outside.
I was quite happy then, but it altered when my mum decided to take in lodgers.
Not the best time for me.
I was twenty one when I left home to get married and we still had a lodger then.
He was a nice man, he was the last -and best one.
I had some happy times-but would not like to relive it

theharvestmouse

04-07-13, 22:21

I was always a deep thinker, and I always felt I saw the world differently from a young age, I remember worrying from quite a young age about growing up and being an adult. I grew out of it for a while but it would still sometimes come back, particularly when I was alone.

I always felt everyone else had been given a briefing on life and a guide book and I was just left floundering around wondering what I am supposed to do.

amaryllis_celladine

05-07-13, 03:44

I was generally a pretty happy child, but I have emotions that run very deep. I had issues with an emotionally abusive father (I hate using the word abuse, because I love my Dad and we generally get along great, but it is what it is - he has temper problems and he shouts a lot over stupid crap and had me walking on eggshells as a kid not to piss him off). And I didn't have many friends at school. So after the first few years of being happy and bouncy, I kinda turned more and more anxious and depressed.

I read a lot, and I'm an artist. A pretty good one, actually. I think some people have brains that make certain connections quicker in thinking patterns, and that aids the thought patterns that make connections between concepts that facilitate anxiety. To put it another way, our brains are very good at being creative, and thusly can come up with new ways to be anxious very, very well. :-P