Most people want to make things better for the next generation that comes after them, especially when it comes to family. But trauma can run deep, and sometimes it carries on for multiple generations. Intergenerational trauma is not a failing on your part or on the part of previous generations, but it can be difficult to break out of the cycle and begin to heal.
Healing from intergenerational trauma begins with understanding it and having empathy for yourself, past generations, and the generations to come. Let’s dive in with today’s blog.
What Is Intergenerational Trauma?
Intergenerational trauma, sometimes known as transgenerational trauma, is trauma that is carried from previous generations of a family or even a community of people into the next. Most intergenerational trauma is behavioral.
If your parents grew up in an abusive household, they might unintentionally repeat some of the patterns that they were surrounded by growing up. Past generations who grew up with racial trauma may pass down defensive coping mechanisms that no longer serve their current descendants. These previous generations may not have had as much access to mental healthcare to process their trauma, and thus their trauma responses became baked into the way they navigated the world, and the way they taught future generations to do so.
But there is a genetic component to intergenerational trauma, as well. When someone experiences trauma, their body responds in one of four trauma responses: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. When you fall back on one of these trauma responses, your DNA literally activates particular genes to help you protect yourself. Trauma doesn’t quite alter your DNA, but it does impact which genes are activated and deactivated.1 And that can be passed down to future generations, leading to generational trauma.
Causes of Intergenerational Trauma
At the source, intergenerational trauma is caused by trauma experienced by past generations that is then passed down through those generations. Thus future generations who might not have experienced that trauma personally can still have their life impacted by the results of it.
Some common causes of intergenerational trauma include:
Racism
Research has shown that cumulative trauma with regard to racism has led to higher levels of depression and suicidal thoughts in Black American youth.2 There is a history of Black Americans having less access to mental healthcare, housing, and education, as well as higher incarceration rates, that can all contribute to intergenerational trauma.
Substance Use Disorders
In generations past, your grandparents or great-grandparents may not have had access to good mental healthcare, but they would likely have had access to alcohol or other illicit substances. By turning to these medications to self-medicate, they may have developed a dependency, which was observed and — over time — imitated by their children. This could lead to intergenerational trauma related to substance use and addiction.
Poverty
Poverty can be one of the most devastating states to be in. It feels as though you’re trapped in a hole, and every time you try to pull yourself out, something pulls you back down. Poverty can restrict access to essentials like food, housing, and healthcare. Many people who have lived in poverty have picked up coping methods that they continue to carry even if they come out of poverty. This can be taught unconsciously from generation to generation.
Relational Abuse
A 2017 study about abuse found that 51% of those who were abused as children went on to be abused in relationships as adults.3 The cycle of abuse can be a vicious one. Even watching abuse amongst parents can have an impact on the relationships you find yourself in as an adult, whether you find yourself in an abusive relationship or simply with maladaptive coping mechanisms to protect yourself from an abusive relationship. This is another aspect of intergenerational trauma.
Diaspora
Diaspora, the feeling of people being separated from their homeland, can carry its own kind of trauma. Often children of immigrants may see the trauma from their parents’ diaspora or their grandparents’ diaspora, which can carry down into intergenerational trauma. This is especially true when the family left their homeland not through any wish of their own.
War or Violent Conflict
Living through war or violent conflict is almost always traumatizing. Past generations whose formative years were shaped by a large, violent conflict carry that with them for the rest of their life. But often those memories, coping mechanisms, and trauma gets passed down through the generations.
The Effects of Intergenerational Trauma
Experiencing intergenerational trauma can result in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) including:
- Hypervigilance
- Heightened anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Codependency
- Mood swings
You will not experience flashbacks from the trauma of past generations, but you can still feel many of the emotional effects. There are also physical health effects. For instance, intergenerational trauma in refugee families has been shown to result in heightened risk of heart disease and stroke.4
The main characteristic of intergenerational trauma is a feeling of constant stress, feeling unsafe, or living under family dysfunction due to the trauma passed down from previous generations.
Breaking the Cycle: Hope of Healing From Intergenerational Trauma
The good news is we have more of an understanding of trauma now than we ever had in the past. With that understanding comes more resources and treatment options to heal from intergenerational trauma.
Therapy is extremely helpful when it comes to intergenerational trauma. Individual therapy can help all members of a family, across generations, to learn coping mechanisms so that they don’t pass their trauma on to their children. It can give them the skills they need to communicate openly and healthily with their family. Behavioral therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help individuals to unlearn negative thought patterns and behaviors that arise from trauma.
There is also family therapy, which can help the entire family to work together and overcome their generational trauma. Another evidence-based therapy is internal family systems therapy (IFS), a form of therapy which focuses on the dynamics between family members and often delves into intergenerational trauma.
If you receive a diagnosis for PTSD, depression, anxiety, or other mental health disorders that can arise from intergenerational trauma, medication may also help you to manage and reduce symptoms on a day-to-day basis. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) can help boost your mood and reduce anxiety and depression by boosting serotonin levels in your brain. Speak with a psychiatrist about whether medication would be the right choice for you and what medication to take.
The skilled and compassionate clinicians at Rivia Mind are here to help when you want to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma. Contact us today to learn more or find a provider.
Resources:
- Understanding epigenetics: how trauma is passed on through our family members – Sara Johnson, Arkansas Advocate
- The Intergenerational Impact of Structural Racism and Cumulative Trauma on Depression — The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2022
- People who were abused as children are more likely to be abused as an adult — Office for National Statistics (UK)
- Intergenerational Trauma in Refugee Families: A Systematic Review — Sangalang, CC; Vang, C; 2019
