Age Regression in Mental Health (review of a scholarly article)
This post is based off of the article “Understanding Age Regression” which was posted on the website Healthline and written by Kimberly Holland on August 30, 2019.
“Age regression occurs when someone reverts to a younger state of mind. This retreat may be only a few years younger than the person’s physical age. It could also be much younger, into early childhood or even infancy.”
What People in Psychology Think About it
Sigmund Freud (a psychologist) said age regression was an unconscious defense mechanism. Carl Jung (a psychiatrist) believed it could be a positive experience and wasn’t meant to escape anything and could help people feel younger, more open, and less stressed. Other psychologists think of it as a way for people to achieve a therapeutic goal (Holland 2019).
As a Symptom: it can be a result of a psychiatric or medical issue like schizophrenia, dementia, dissociative identity disorder, dementia, or borderline personality disorder. For those wo th personality disorders, it can be spontaneous when the person deals with triggers.
Clinical: it can be used as a therapeutic technique. Therapists can use hypnotherapy as well to get back to a certain age to relive and hopefully recover from a trauma.
Trauma Recovery: those with a history of trauma can be more likely to regress to cope with said trauma. Age regression when used in this sense is a form of security against insecurity or fear.
Self-Help: for some, age regression is intentional. It can be used to block out worry or stress and to avoid personal problems or tough issues.
“As a form of self-help, age regression may help you revert to a time in your life when you felt loved, cared for, and secure. In that sense, this can be a positive experience.”
Is Age Regression Sexual?
“Age regression is never considered sexual. It’s a type of defense mechanism that allows you to mentally escape to a different time in your life.”
If you find yourself involuntarily regressing without control, you should seek help from a medical professional. But if you’re doing it in a safe environment and as a form of relaxation or self-help, go for it.
My thoughts on the article:
It is so refreshing to see an article on age regression on a form of mainstream media such as the website this article was posted on. I really appreciate how it’s written as well, because it’s factual and makes a ton of sense.
The author of this article really spoke about age regression in its true form and addressed the most important topics. I truly agree with everything the author wrote and highly suggest sending this article to whoever you want to tell about your age regression. It’s non-biased, straight to the point, and brings in all sides of age regression.
If you want me to post more information like this let me know! I hope this review can help you out in whatever way you need it to.