Generational Trauma: Breaking The Cycle
By Jessy Nolan - 15 May 2024
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I'm trying to write this with as much empathy as possible. This is what I had to learn to heal and to grow as a person and I hope it helps others achieve the same goal. Generational trauma is when trauma is passed down from one generation to the next within families and communities. Through intervention such as therapy it is possible to heal and break the cycle and prevent passing along the pain to the next generation.
Your parents and family aren't necessarily trying to damage you. But if they aren't self aware and informed about the harmful behaviors of how the previous generations traumatized each other, they unfortunately may pass it along to you despite having good intentions. |
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Your parents didn't deserve to be treated poorly by your grandparents, and your grandparents didn't deserve to be treated poorly by your great grandparents. Have empathy for them, but also have empathy for yourself, your family members, and your future kids.
Effects of Generational Trauma
Some people love to claim that being hit, shouted at and worse didn't have a negative effect on them, yet think it's okay to repeat these behaviors on their own kids. Thanks to modern science and psychology we know those behaviors are much more damaging than previously believed. One study says that shouting at children can be as damaging as physical or sexual abuse. If that's how damaging verbal abuse is, can you imagine how damaging physical, emotional, and psychological abuse is? "Slapping and spanking in childhood and its association with lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders". You get the point.
Breaking Free from the Cycle
I've tried to make this article as easily digestible as possible. It may make you feel angry, it may make you feel sad, possibly both at the same time. But I feel like I have to try help people heal. My therapist and many other trauma informed people have helped me. Now it's my duty to pass it on to repay the world for the damage I've contributed to humanity.
Effects of Generational Trauma
- Mental Health Issues: Increased chance of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health disorders.
- Behavioral Problems: Higher rates of self harm, aggression, substance abuse, and other behaviors.
- Physical Health Issues: Chronic stress related to generational trauma can lead to physical health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and weakened immune function.
- Relationship Difficulties: Struggles with trust, intimacy, and communication in relationships.
- Cultural Disconnection: Loss of cultural identity and practices, or conversely, an intense clinging to cultural practices as a form of resilience and identity.
Some people love to claim that being hit, shouted at and worse didn't have a negative effect on them, yet think it's okay to repeat these behaviors on their own kids. Thanks to modern science and psychology we know those behaviors are much more damaging than previously believed. One study says that shouting at children can be as damaging as physical or sexual abuse. If that's how damaging verbal abuse is, can you imagine how damaging physical, emotional, and psychological abuse is? "Slapping and spanking in childhood and its association with lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders". You get the point.
Breaking Free from the Cycle
- Therapy and Counseling: Professional help, such as trauma-informed therapy, can assist individuals in processing and healing from trauma. Techniques like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and somatic experiencing can be particularly effective.
- Education: Educating individuals and communities about generational trauma can help spread awareness and understanding. To heal from this it is essential to understand it.
- Building Resilience: Encouraging practices that build emotional and psychological resilience, such as mindfulness, meditation, and stress management techniques.
- Community Support: Creating supportive community networks where individuals can share their experiences and support each other in their healing journeys.
- Narrative Change: Changing the family and cultural narratives from ones of victimhood to ones of survival and resilience can empower individuals and communities.
I've tried to make this article as easily digestible as possible. It may make you feel angry, it may make you feel sad, possibly both at the same time. But I feel like I have to try help people heal. My therapist and many other trauma informed people have helped me. Now it's my duty to pass it on to repay the world for the damage I've contributed to humanity.
Sources
- How trauma’s effects can pass from generation to generation (nature.com)
- Generational Trauma: Definition, Symptoms, Treatment (health.com)
- Intergenerational Trauma: How It Affects Families (psychcentral.com)
- Effects of childhood trauma: Symptoms and how to heal (medicalnewstoday.com)
- Shouting at children can be as damaging as physical or sexual abuse, study says (theguardian.com)
- Childhood verbal abuse as a child maltreatment subtype: A systematic review of the current evidence - ScienceDirect
- Slapping and spanking in childhood and its association with lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders - (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Link between childhood maltreatment and adult substance abuse - UQ News - The University of Queensland, Australia
- Intergenerational trauma transmission is associated with brain metabotranscriptome remodeling and mitochondrial dysfunction - PMC (nih.gov)
- The Cycle Continues: The Effects of Intergenerational Trauma on the Sense of Self and the Healing Opportunities of Dance/Movement Therapy: A Literature Review (lesley.edu)