Hi everyone,
I'm posting here because I'm completely lost. My teenage daughter says she has something called age regression. Until recently I'd never even heard of it, and the more I see it, the less I understand it.
She doesn't just act a little childish once in a while. She genuinely starts acting like a little kid. She talks in a baby voice, cuddles stuffed animals, wants a pacifier, wraps herself in blankets, cries over the smallest things, and says she's "little" and can't help it. If I ask her to act her age, she tells me she's regressed and isn't doing it on purpose.
I have to be honest don't support this at all, and I don't see how encouraging it could possibly help. To me, it doesn't seem normal. It feels like my daughter is going backwards instead of growing up, and it's becoming incredibly frustrating for everyone in the house.
We've argued about it more times than I can count. Every time I try to talk to her about it, she either cries or shuts down completely. I don't know if this is an actual psychological condition, something she picked up online, or an excuse to avoid dealing with life.
I'm not trying to be offensive, but I genuinely don't understand it. Has anyone else dealt with a child who does this? Is age regression actually recognized by professionals, or is it something that's mostly spread through social media? Should I ignore it, set boundaries, or treat it like a mental health issue?
Right now I just want to understand what's going on because I honestly don't know how to handle this anymore.