[BeneathTheSmile]

Often when l get stressed and or angry, or just randomly, I kind of "revert" to a toddler temperament. I'm usually fairly irritable and have mood swings, but it becomes worse then. I pretty much stop any critical thinking and it's just like "one goal, now." It upsets and embarasses my parents, especially since I do this in public often, but I have no control. I do kind of remember what I do during this, but hardly. It's almost like my brain shuts down but I keep functioning.
Anyone know what could cause this, or have experience with something like this?

[Thunder Bow]

You are acting on your first feelings you had as an toddler. Work with a Therapist and explore your growing up in your family, to understand how these feelings got started in the first place.

[Skeezyks]

Hello BeneathTheSmile: Well... I'm afraid I don't know what causes this. But the experience is familiar... & I'm an old fogey! I struggle with a lot of anger & anxiety plus depression. And, when anything pisses me off (which almost everything does) I just revert back to very old, & unhelpful, ways of dealing with the situation. And then I hate myself afterwards! I always tell myself it will never happen again. But it always does.

For a variety of reasons, which I won't go into, it has occurred to me that I may have some hidden, undiagnosed brain damage from many years ago. Inability to control one's temper can be a symptom of damage to the area of the brain that's in charge of what is sometimes referred to as "executive functions". Perhaps this is just an excuse. But as I think back on some things that happened with me many years ago, it makes a certain amount of sense.

Anyway, I guess the point here is that perhaps in your case this is simply a lack of maturity on your part. Perhaps in some way, over the years, you simply learned that this is the way to get what you want. If so, then it may simply be a matter of developing a new skills set... maybe with the help of a therapist. However if, as time goes by, this continues to be a serious problem for you, it may make some sense to consider the possibility that you have something physical going on too. It's probably not likely. But it's not impossible. I wish you well...

[amandalouise]

here in my location we call reacting and feeling like a child when under stress to be normal and there is a therapy approach around this issue called inner child therapy. to do it one holds a picture or other wise meaningful object that shows how one was as a child. the adult is asked to look at the picture or the object and .....imagine...that child is in the room, now imagine what you would like to tell that child you once were. then close your eyes and imagine doing and saying those things to the child you were. whats the point this activity usually helps a person to not react like a child under stress because they are better at understanding why they reacted that way and now have better coping tools.

that said there are some mental disorders that involve things like throwing temper tantrums, road raging and such. your treatment provider will be able to set up diagnostic evaluations that can tell you whether you have any mental or physical health problems that are making you react like a child when angry or upset or under stress. we can not make that diagnosis here.

[-jimi-]

I think we're like peals of an onion. We learn more and more over time and we integrate it. When upset, stressed, tired, the outer layers can come off.

That is how it happens for me anyway. My outer layers are the construct how people are created, that they are created as whole persons with their good and bad. When I feel too stressed I lose this layer of thinking and regress into seeing things as details. And if a friend just upset me, I only see that, that IS the person in front of me. I can't think, in that mood, that they are a friend, a creature a whole of many traits. I don't have to say that can make friendships hard for me.

We all have different types of layers, which are most likely to come off in a pressured situation.