GENERATIONAL TRAUMA: WHAT IT IS & HOW TO HEAL
Most of us take for granted that our personal experiences can affect our mental health and wellbeing. What can be harder to wrap our heads around is the reality that the experiences of our parents, grandparents, and even more distant ancestors can also affect our mental health and wellbeing. When a person or people within a family lineage experience major trauma and do not have the opportunity to heal it, the impacts of that trauma are passed down to their descendants. This phenomenon is called generational trauma.
How Does This Happen?
There are multiple pathways by which trauma can be passed from one generation to the next. One is through learned patterns of behavior. Say one of your parents grew up in an abusive home where physical aggression, yelling, and threats were commonplace. As a child, they learned that these behaviors are normal ways of expressing yourself or trying to get your needs met. When they have children of their own, they might replicate physically or emotionally unsafe behaviors because that is how parenting was modeled to them.
Another pathway involves emotional legacies. Say your grandparents experienced severe poverty. They likely felt a lot of fear and anxiety about their ability to provide for themselves and their children. This fear would have been palpable to their children, who would learn that money is scarce and something to stress a lot about. As adults, these children might still exhibit a lot of financial anxiety and frugal tendencies even if their material circumstances are significantly different than when they were growing up. The idea that finances are something to be anxious and vigilant about can continue to be transmitted to younger generations though the personal experiences of poverty or hardship have ended.
A third pathway is via epigenetics. According to Scientific American, epigenetics is, “the study of what influences gene expression and how.” Researchers in this field look at how the environments in which we are embedded shape how the levers that control gene expression are turned on or off. Studies that have looked at the children of survivors of large-scale traumas, like the Holocaust, have found lower cortisol levels (suggesting a sensitized stress response system) and higher rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD among these individuals.
Epigenetics is still a relatively young field and much remains to be learned. Preliminary findings, however, seem to suggest that there is a biological component to the transmission of trauma-related impacts across generations. Epigenetic changes may represent the body’s way of trying to adapt and prepare a child to manage challenges similar to those their parents faced. These adaptations are likely less advantageous, however, when the children are not subject to the same environments or stressors as their parents.
what you can do to Heal
If you are reading this, my guess is that you feel invested in being a cycle breaker in your family. With appropriate healing work, it is possible to pass down wellbeing and nervous system regulation rather than trauma. This work may include the following steps:
Recognize. Start by being curious about whether you might carry any symptoms that reflect a legacy of trauma. Are you persistently anxious or irritable? Struggle to sleep or concentrate? Have a hard time trusting others or feeling safe? These are some of the ways that trauma can manifest in our bodies. Once you pinpoint if/how trauma is living in you, then ask yourself, “what has happened to me or to my ancestors that might account for this?”
Witness your experience. Identifying patterns of family trauma can bring up a lot of emotions, including sadness, grief, guilt, and anger. Many people also experience resentment that they are the ones who have to do the hard work of healing because older generations didn’t. Hold space for yourself to feel whatever you are feeling, validate it, and practice kind and gentle self-care.
Seek trauma-informed therapy. Find an experienced trauma therapist who can guide you through the work of healing and unburdening yourself of generational traumas. There are a number of effective treatments for trauma, including EMDR.
Find safe relationships and communities. Being around people and in spaces where we feel seen, affirmed, and supported helps the nervous system deactivate and creates the conditions of safety in which healing can occur.
Restorative justice, cultural rituals, family therapy, and communal interventions that foster dialogue among generations can also be meaningful avenues to healing. Whatever route you take, know that you are doing brave, beautiful, and transformative work.
Please note: This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a licensed mental health provider or other healthcare professional for guidance related to your specific mental health or medical concerns.
