Intergenerational Trauma and Its Effect on Mental Health
Understanding Intergenerational Trauma
Intergenerational trauma is emotional distress passed down through generations, stemming from ancestors' traumatic experiences. This trauma affects families by influencing emotions, behaviors, and relationships long after the original events. Known as intergenerational, historical, transgenerational, or multigenerational trauma, it impacts millions worldwide.
Trauma can result from personal experiences like grief, loss, abuse, and violence, or from separation from family, community, or culture. It also arises from neglect, domestic violence, inadequate healthcare, and lack of basic needs. Specific cultural, racial, or ethnic groups may experience trauma from events like terrorism, wars, slavery, the Holocaust, and colonial violence, as well as natural disasters.
Certain populations, such as descendants of trauma survivors from abuse, oppression, and historical events like the Holocaust, are more susceptible to intergenerational trauma, increasing their risk for PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.
People experiencing intergenerational trauma may show symptoms, reactions, and emotional or psychological effects stemming from trauma experienced by previous generations, not just from parents or grandparents. This can manifest as anxiety and mood disorders, similar to PTSD.
Fortunately, therapy, trauma-informed care, awareness and understanding, and proper therapeutic support can offer effective ways to address and manage these inherited emotional hardships.
Intergenerational Trauma Responses and Symptoms:
What is Trauma Response?
Humans have survived for thousands of years by evolving the ability to adapt. Trauma responses, developed to survive stress or traumatic events, are beneficial in the short term but can harm physical and mental health if prolonged. Once established, these behaviors can be passed to future generations and become difficult to change.
Staying in "survival mode" for long-term hinders growth, as these responses are rooted in fear and scarcity. A sense of safety is needed to thrive, but those with trauma often lack it. Even in safe situations, trauma survivors may struggle to remain calm, fearing another traumatic event.
Intergenerational trauma can lead to behaviors like yelling, as past generations used these responses for survival. They lacked the tools, energy, or support to communicate kindly due to constant stress and historical struggles.
Mentally, intergenerational trauma seems like a bunch of symptoms, such as:
Shame
Anxiety and guilt
Feeling helpless or vulnerable
Low self-esteem
Depression
Higher chances of suicide
High rates of heart disease
Substance abuse
Relationship troubles
A hard time controlling aggressive feelings
Extreme reactions to stress
Damaged cultural identity (the sense of belonging to a larger group)
However, these symptoms vary from person to person. Many individuals show no clear effects from the trauma that previous generations of their family endured. In essence, those impacted by intergenerational trauma may exhibit symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as hypervigilance, anxiety, and mood dysregulation. Nonetheless, since the individual did not directly experience the trauma, they will not encounter flashbacks or intrusive memories.
As stress responses are associated with more physical health problems, intergenerational trauma can also present as medical conditions like heart disease, stroke, or premature death.
How does intergenerational trauma work?
This type of trauma involves the psychological and emotional effects of traumatic experiences transmitted across generations. It occurs when trauma's impact is so profound that it affects family members who weren't present during the event, manifesting as anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.
Intergenerational trauma is triggered by large-scale events like war, genocide, slavery, forced displacement, systemic discrimination, or deeply personal experiences that alter perceptions of safety and trust.
It can also result from oppression, including racial trauma or systemic oppression. Documented in descendants of refugees, residential school survivors, and Holocaust survivors, intergenerational trauma affects populations long after the original traumatic event.
This trauma is passed down when a parent who experienced abuse or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impacts their parenting, perpetuating a cycle of trauma and abuse.
Interestingly, intergenerational trauma can be transmitted genetically, behaviorally, or through a combination of both:
Biological pathways: Significant trauma leads to epigenetic changes, involving modifications in gene expression without altering the DNA sequence itself. For instance, if someone endures a severe, prolonged event, such as a genocide, their stress-response system might alter cortisol levels and other hormones. These changes can predispose future generations to heightened stress responses and anxiety. They essentially inherit a biological tendency toward trauma responses they never personally encountered.
Learned behaviors: Individuals who have survived trauma may adopt specific coping mechanisms, attachment styles, or relational patterns arising from their survival instincts, and they can pass these learned behaviors to their children. A parent who has experienced domestic violence, for example, might have difficulty with trust or emotional intimacy, making it hard for their children to feel secure. Consequently, children may internalize feelings of hypervigilance and emotional distance, perpetuating these response strategies even when they are unnecessary.
Genetics and Intergenerational Trauma
Epigenetics refers to how our genetic material expresses itself, affecting traits and disease predispositions. Some genes are inactive at birth but can be triggered by environmental factors, allowing adaptation.
Trauma activates genes that help survive stress, preparing us for future threats. These changes are inherited, equipping descendants for potential trauma. While genetics enhance resilience, constant readiness for danger increases stress, impacting mental and physical health.
If ancestors experienced trauma, their DNA adapted for survival, and this "survival mode" is inherited across generations, persisting even without further trauma.
Who Does Intergenerational Trauma Affect?
Many studies on intergenerational trauma have concentrated on the descendants of individuals who experienced a significant historical traumatic event. This includes:
Holocaust survivors who endured concentration camps
African Americans who faced years of slavery, segregation, or systemic racism
Native Americans who suffered from colonial massacres or had their children taken and placed in boarding schools due to federal policies
Japanese Americans who were confined in internment camps during World War II
Vietnam War veterans
Some specialists suggest that further research is needed on transgenerational trauma among the relatives of individuals with disabilities. Historically, certain groups of disabled people have experienced trauma due to factors such as unfounded biases, discrimination, forced sterilization, or psychiatric treatment, among others.
It is also believed that intergenerational trauma can impact the family members of those who have suffered traumas such as:
Murder or rape
Natural disasters
Physical, sexual, or mental abuse
Substance abuse
Abandonment or neglect
Serious injury, illness, or untreated mental illness
Poverty and food insecurity
Treatment and Coping for Intergenerational Trauma
Intergenerational trauma can persist across generations, especially if parents have high ACE scores, increasing the likelihood of their children experiencing adverse childhood experiences. Trauma-informed therapy can help manage symptoms, understand trauma effects, and provide tools to change ingrained patterns, promoting healing for future generations.
Even without direct memories of trauma, trauma-informed approaches can help manage physiological reactions. Identifying trauma symptoms, even if inherited, is crucial for seeking support and coping with intergenerational trauma.
Recovery is possible for those affected by intergenerational trauma. Key aids include: a supportive caregiver, a safe community, mindfulness activities, and professional services like Child and Family Centres or GPs. Further research is needed to identify effective treatments for intergenerational trauma.
If you suspect trauma symptoms, consult a doctor who may refer you to a mental health professional for assistance with family trauma history, managing emotions, addressing current traumas, practicing self-care, and identifying trauma triggers. Choose a professional who respects your cultural background and may incorporate traditional healing practices.
How can we recognize intergenerational trauma?
There are various emotional and behavioral indicators to watch for:
Emotional indicators: Individuals may experience persistent anxiety, intense depression, or constant hypervigilance without clear cause. These reactions, linked to inherited trauma, can feel isolating for the individual and puzzling for others if the connection to intergenerational trauma is unrecognized. Those affected may also feel guilt or shame, believing others have suffered more. However, it's important to acknowledge that personal pain is valid: "What hurts you, hurts you." Additionally, individuals indirectly experience the trauma of previous generations, forming the basis of their own traumatic experiences.
Behavioral indicators: This includes disproportionate aggression or anger, avoidance of conflict or intimacy, trust issues, difficulty forming secure attachments, and pushing others away. These behaviors affect family dynamics, as individuals may unconsciously adopt similar styles. Breaking the cycle requires deliberate effort and professional help, particularly from clinicians trained in evidence-based trauma treatments, to develop new interaction methods.
Treatment methods such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and somatic therapy (which addresses how emotions manifest physically) can assist individuals in processing their personal experiences and inherited patterns. These therapies enable individuals to gain a deeper understanding of their family's trauma history, reconfigure their emotional and physical reactions to trauma, and develop new narratives and coping mechanisms. Additionally, they can aid families in understanding and managing their shared experiences more effectively.
Healing is Possible
Deliberate action disrupts the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
Recognizing this form of trauma as a legitimate experience and seeking assistance to heal is an act of self-love—one that will foster a healthier future for yourself, your family, and future generations.
Since intergenerational trauma is passed down through generations, it can be completely healed by establishing an environment where no further trauma occurs for several generations. Even amidst ongoing stressors, healing is possible with the right tools, internal resources, and support to manage symptoms and address the root cause of intergenerational trauma on physical/somatic, emotional, mental, cellular, and ancestral levels.
Support and resources for trauma survivors and those experiencing intergenerational trauma are crucial in preventing future traumas.
This involves educating providers, teachers, and parents about trauma, trauma responses, and intergenerational trauma, as well as tackling systemic issues that perpetuate trauma in marginalized communities.
It also entails recognizing the impact of intergenerational trauma on individuals who have not directly experienced a traumatic event. This awareness is the first step in addressing intergenerational trauma in individuals and preventing future occurrences.
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“This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment."
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