How Intergenerational Trauma is Affecting Your Mental Health

Intergenerational trauma can subtly affect your mental health without even realizing it. This type of trauma is unique as it changes one’s worldview and overall experience. It may be difficult to vocalize the effects until its source can be pinpointed. The trauma of our ancestors has been discovered to be passed on from one generation to another through changes in our genetic makeup. The post-traumatic stress experienced by parents can be present in future generations either through inheritance through biological means or stories of the past. Members of marginalized groups that have experienced oppression from other groups experience a unique view and stress from their oppressor. This “shared stress” can be traumatic for parents to relive and explain to their kin as a warning. This intergenerational trauma is then experienced in offspring through increased stress levels and anxiety although they themselves may not have experienced the harrowing events. 

Intergenerational trauma may not only be from societal events but from familial abuse, mental health issues, and emotional trauma that occurs in generations prior to one’s own. When generations prior have poor coping mechanisms (including denial or minimization) or find it difficult to move past those traumas, it can seep into the child as they develop. It may even lead to a cycle of trauma that can continue until one member chooses to seek help. In these cases, it always involves a lack of safety and security for the individual at hand. This is why it is important to reflect and determine how one family’s distress can affect your own mental health. In seeking professional help, one can be exposed to methods that can break the chain of intergenerational trauma.

In the meantime, it is great to manage related stress and anxiety using methods such as box breathing or through seeking social support. It is important to keep things in perspective and maintain a positive outlook on life. While we cannot control what our ancestors and parents have experienced, we are able to adapt and control our responses to it with awareness and therapy. Breaking the cycle begins with noticing a pattern and having the courage to step forward and seek the necessary healing.