Generational trauma

Today I’m going to be talking about generational trauma. Generational trauma is when trauma occurs and causes a negative ripple effect on the generations of a family line. Basically, it is passing on unresolved trauma. It is said that 70% of adults experience a traumatic event- 34% experience emotional abuse, 23.3% experience physical abuse, 12.6% experience sexual abuse, 26.5% experience substance abuse in their household, 28.4% experience divorce, and 17.3% experience mental illness in the household. There are many ways that this trauma can affect the generations after it. Generational trauma can be passed down through epigenetics, behavioral transmission, or a shared environment and collective memory. Epigenetics is when extreme or unresolved stress can alter how your body reads your DNA without changing the genetic code. Behavioral transmission is when a child absorbs emotional responses, fears, and avoidance behaviors as their own. Shared environment and collective memory refer to systematic or community-wide adversity.

There are many causes of generational trauma, and it includes abandonment or neglect, bullying, harassment, and persecution, death of a parent or sibling, divorce, estrangement or separation from family, incarceration, human trafficking, natural disasters, physical, emotional, mental, or sexual abuse/violence, poverty, substance abuse, and war. Generational trauma causes many symptoms and has several effects. Many symptoms are mental health conditions like PTSD, chronic anxiety or depression, emotional numbness, feelings of detachment, a lack of self-worth, hypervigilance, and repeating cycles of abuse, neglect, toxic relationships, or violence. This can cause unhealthy coping mechanisms, difficult relationship patterns, and lingering fears. Generational trauma is an emotional burden that affects love and family dynamics, physical health, and mental health. Physically, it is linked to heart disease, diabetes, IBS, eating disorders, and a lowered immune response. An example of generational trauma is prenatal development when mothers are experiencing their own trauma. This raises the cortisol levels the fetus receives and affects their development. It should also be noted that when a woman is pregnant, there are three generations of eggs being developed.

Now, how does this all relate to me? As a disclaimer, I will not be talking or labelling specific family members when discussing our family’s generational trauma. My family has worked really hard to break generational trauma. Some of my family experienced poverty, abuse or neglect, and the death of a parent. This is the trauma that I don’t believe has been passed on to my generation. Even so, some trauma was still passed on. First, I want to discuss marriages. Many generations of my family have gotten divorced and some even several times. I genuinely believe it was a learned behavior, and a response to the trauma that I don’t believe was passed on to me. I still have a warped view of love, and I feel like divorce is a probability when I enter relationships. It’s a strange outlook to have unless you’ve experienced it. As a sober individual, I know addiction was passed down to my generation. I have more than a normal amount of family members that drink or use drugs, and when I went through difficult times, it became a coping mechanism for me. Again, I think it has been learned throughout the generations. Lastly, and sensitively, I have to acknowledge that I have been sexually assaulted, and I know family members that have been through the same. It’s a trauma that I desperately hope is not passed down further.

So, how do you break it? First, you need to accept trauma as your family’s experience. Then, you need to acknowledge its effects on you and your family. You need radical self-awareness. You also need to identify inherited patterns, identify your triggers, and track family behaviors. Then, you need to break unhealthy thought patterns and habits. You need to reparent yourself, make intentional daily choices, and model new behaviors. Lastly, you need to create healthier thought and behavior patterns. It’s time to establish healthy boundaries, prioritize nervous system regulation, and communicate effectively. It’s also important to seek professional help if you feel like you need it.

It takes work to break generational trauma, but it is so worth it and you’ll never regret it.

xoxo