Generational Trauma's Impact on Family Lineages

Generational Strife: Exploring its impacts on family dynamics

In a world where stress and trauma are all too common, it's essential to understand their far-reaching effects on our health and wellbeing. Trauma and stress can increase the chances of chronic pain, anxiety, depression, poor sleep hygiene, heart disease, substance use disorders (SUD), diabetes, and other health issues.

One approach to addressing this issue is to delve into the roots of family pain, as suggested by Mark Wolynn, author of "It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle." Wolynn argues that remaining silent about family pain is rarely an effective strategy for healing it. Instead, he encourages uncovering the actual triggering event in family history to prevent reliving unconscious fragments of trauma.

This concept is particularly relevant in the context of intergenerational trauma, a phenomenon where adverse events or experiences are passed down from one generation to the next, often in unspoken and complex ways. Intergenerational trauma can affect individuals and families in different ways, bringing some closer emotionally while causing others to drift apart.

Historical trauma, a specific form of intergenerational trauma, is experienced by a cultural, racial, or ethnic group of people. Examples include Japanese Americans with ties to Japanese internment during World War II, Black and African American people, those of Vietnamese and Cambodian descent, Australian Aboriginal tribes, and North and South American Indigenous tribes.

Intergenerational trauma can lead to a variety of symptoms, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), such as shame, heightened sense of vulnerability and helplessness, low self-esteem, dissociation, hyper-vigilance, intrusive thoughts, difficulty with relationships and attachment to others, difficulty in regulating aggression, and extreme reactivity to stress.

Moreover, intergenerational trauma can result in estrangement, neglect, and abuse. In some cases, it can even lead to violence. A recent study suggests a connection between intergenerational trauma and disparities in COVID-19 contraction within Black and Indigenous communities.

Addressing intergenerational trauma requires a holistic approach. Taking action in small steps over time to evaluate and gain awareness of intergenerational trauma while caring for yourself can help ensure that you pass healing on to the next generation. Certain types of therapy, such as psychoanalysis, EMDR, somatic therapy, internal family systems (IFS), prolonged exposure therapy (PE), and cognitive processing therapy (CPT), may be effective in addressing intergenerational trauma.

Cultural competency, derived from intentional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work and adequate representation, can aid in these efforts. Creating space and supporting the coping needs of people who come from lineages of trauma is often the best move, rather than attempting to "fix" or remove the pain.

It's important to remember that anyone can experience intergenerational trauma, but people from marginalized groups and those who are descendants of people who have experienced violence or hardships may have more pronounced experiences. Merissa Nathan Gerson, a descendant of Holocaust victims, experienced intergenerational trauma, affecting her emotionally and physically.

Trauma can be transmitted in many ways, such as from genetics, conversations at the dinner table, memory, cultural messages and conditioning, cultural patterns, cumulative emotional wounding, dominant family narratives, normalization of hatred, cruelty, and dehumanization toward others, parents bypassing or not coping with their trauma, and aggressions and micro-aggressions.

In conclusion, understanding and addressing intergenerational trauma is crucial for personal and collective healing. By acknowledging and addressing the past, we can move towards a future of health, resilience, and emotional wellbeing.