I'd been fascinated by past lives for a number of years and in 2001, discovered a bevy of information on the subject. I avidly read accounts from people who'd recalled past lives, and many books which went into it in great depth.

My interest now mainly stems from why it may be that some of us develop symptoms or behaviours in this life which can't be explained by childhood experiences, or resist medical intervention.

For me, my first experience of real fear was going on the Big Dipper at Luna Park at ten years old with my older sister, Karen, and her boyfriend, Stephen. Luna Park is an Amusement Park located on Sydney Harbour - it's as old as the hills and the Big Dipper was at that time considered one of the scariest roller coaster rides in the world. I had no qualms about getting on at first, even enjoying the ride until we got to the first dip. I looked down, felt sick, and couldn't believe the speed we were flying down it. I begged for it to stop, even begged Karen and Stephen to make it stop, but all they did was laugh at me. They thought I was being funny.

Eventually, I managed to free myself of the harness and curled up on the bottom of the car for the rest of the ride. When we came out at the end, I felt too sick to eat my Mars Bar and gave it to Karen. All the way home through Ultimo (in the inner city of Sydney and a place with lots of steep hills) Stephen drove his Mini as fast as he could, while they both laughed at me lying on the back seat howling in fear.

When I was 15, I went to the Easter Show with some friends. There was a ride there called the "Wild Mouse" which was a scaled down version of the "Wild Cat" at Luna Park. It was another type of roller coaster, but went much faster, with lots of loops and turns. I went on it, thinking I'd be ok. That was not to be. I screamed and squealed the whole way round, and when it ended, the Attendant had to help me out of the car. I was shaking like a leaf and crying like I'd lost my best friend. Of course, my present friends laughed uproariously at my discomfort.

Years went by and I declined, as often as possible, any invitation to go to Amusement Parks as I knew I couldn't cope with roller coaster rides; or any rides which went downwards at great speed. If I did go, I refused everything except the tamest of rides or amusements; often opting to be a coat hanger and photographer. This went on for most of my adult life. Sometimes I was teased for my fear, but I managed to laugh it off.

In 1998, my husband Glen and I went to see the movie Titanic. I'd seen some documentaries and read some stories about it previously, so like most people, knew its history. But after the movie, Glen had to support me as I cried so hard I was unable to stand up properly. Never before had I reacted to a movie quite like this. He made a comment about the "love story" between Rose and Jack and I remember saying, "No, it isn't that! The ship, the ship...all those people..."

Following on from that, I watched the movie over and over once we bought the video, then eventually the DVD. I read up on its history, researching the building of it, then also the discovery of the wreck. I could feel a story unfolding slowly. One night as I was watching, yet again, the scene where the ship's bow is pointing upwards out of the water, I had a strange thought come: "I was on there". Yet could think of nothing else. It seemed weird to me, and I was left perplexed. However I came to the conclusion my imagination was probably working overtime. But still, I was intrigued...

Some years later, I visited a Psychic Medium. I decided to ask her about the Titanic and whether I had any connection to it in a past life. Her findings were that I had gone down on the ship, was one of the 3rd class passengers, and my body was never accounted for. I was also a young girl of about 5 at the time. I took this information on board, then proceeded to pull it to pieces, as I could find nothing solid which confirmed what she said. I had to take it on faith.

More years elapsed, and I met a lady called Maria who became my Psychic Mentor as I trained to enter the world of Psychic Readings. We were running a workshop one night, and as only a small number of people turned up for it, she decided to do a past life regression on me and one other lady who attended.

Past life regression involves hypnotism. The subject must be able to go down to an extremely relaxed state where they are open not only to childhood memories, but journeys into past lives. In recent years, this has proved to be an effective treatment for those who suffer symptoms, or irrational behaviours or fears which have not responded to modern medication or other conventional treatments.

As I went down further and further - which was no mean feat as I am not a good hypnotism subject - I started to feel very cold. I was shivering, and felt like I was in the most freezing water. I was casting around, crying and looking for my mother who I couldn't find. Here, I was a boy of about six. My mother never surfaced, and I believe I eventually died from hyperthermia, as many others did. My name didn't come to me either; just this sensation of being immersed in freezing water, feeling panic-stricken and alone without my mother.

As I delved further and further during the session, it came to light that my mother and I had witnessed my father falling from one of the funnels of the Titanic. We were visiting Dublin at the time and saw the whole thing happen. He was a building inspector of some kind, who lost his balance, falling to his death. When the Titanic took its maiden voyage, my mother decided we should still go on the trip, as my father would have wanted us to. For all accounts, this proved a fateful decision.

The above findings contradict what the Psychic Medium told me: in this version I was a boy, not a girl, and my mother and I would not have been members of 3rd class considering my father's involvement with the building of the Great Ship.

Neither do I have a definite recollection of clinging to the rear of the ship after it had split away from the front. Nor have there been any clear images of going down on it as it plunged into the water. Still, the fear remains to this day of being on anything that plunges downward at speed, yet I can sit on the back of a motor bike doing well over 200 kilometres an hour without batting an eyelid!

As a point of interest, my daughter Brooke was my mother in that life, which may explain the power struggles we both suffer in this one!

I managed to partially face my phobia of downward speed on a recent holiday to the Gold Coast with Glen, Brooke and our foster son Peter. We did this trip as we figured it might be the last one where the young ones would want to be seen with us in public! I was dreading it as we were planning on visiting all the Amusement Parks there, and I knew I'd be a wet week for most of it. Still, I soldiered on, and at Movie World, it was decided Mum would go on the Scooby-Doo ride as they all thought it looked pretty tame. Mum was going to enjoy it, wasn't she?

I asked the fellow at the door if it was scary. He replied "It goes pretty fast. Yeah, it's scary, but it's more fun than scary". My parting words to him were "If this bloody ride scares me to death, I'll come looking for you!"

It was scary. To me. Everyone else thought it was tame and laughed the whole way through it. I screamed and yelled, suffering palpitations while it plunged backwards at speed in the dark. I thought I was surely going to die. When we came out, the young fellow was nowhere to be seen (smart boy) and I stood outside smoking a cigarette, crying and shaking. Then I started to smile as Peter said, "You're hard-core Chris" and Brooke said "Hey, you survived Mum!". Glen congratulated me for facing this fear while he patted my arm, asking if I was alright. I felt the stirrings of pride that maybe I had faced a fear, however partially. And at least my fear was supported by those I was with, this time.

So is this a past life recollection? Or is it simply one of those things a person is frightened of for no reason?

I ponder these questions quite often and come to very few conclusions. I am a touch sceptical as if I can't be offered concrete proof of going down on that ship, or losing my life and my parents due to it, then I remain only a partial believer.

Still, this story goes a fair way towards explaining why I suffered a high degree of separation anxiety when I was younger. I hated being alone. When I first started dating my husband who was in the Navy at the time, I felt hugely abandoned and bereft every time he went away. Over time, I adjusted to this as I got older, and eventually had no problem being alone; I just missed him. Curiously, in my past life regression, Glen was the father who I'd watched plunge to his death!

It still begs the question: when we feel a behaviour is irrational, can't be explained by anything in this life, and other people or events go part way towards validating our thoughts, does this mean we are experiencing the residue of lives lived previously?

I refuse to completely dispel my discoveries in Regression sessions as the ravings of an over-worked imagination, but the sceptic in me wants solid proof at the same time.

So, is this from a past life or the workings of an overly emotional person's wild imagination?

You be the judge.