Generational Trauma: How Stress Gets Passed Down

"Generational trauma is the psychological and emotional effects of traumatic events passed down through generations, impacting people who did not directly experience the original event. The term was first used in the 1960's when researchers observed the high rates of psychological distress experienced not just by Holocaust survivors, but also by the children of Holocaust survivors, who weren't even conceived until after the end of World War II."

"There are actually a lot of ways this can happen. The most intuitive is through parenting behaviors. Let's imagine a parent has gone through some kind of trauma, like losing a child. You can imagine that losing a child-from an illness, accident, or for any reason at all-will likely affect the way a parent interacts towards their other children or even their other loved ones."

Generational trauma refers to psychological and emotional effects of traumatic events transmitted across generations to people who did not directly experience the original trauma. First formally studied in the 1960s through Holocaust survivors and their children, researchers have identified multiple transmission mechanisms. Parenting behaviors represent the most direct pathway, where traumatized parents modify their interactions with children based on their experiences. A parent who experienced loss or violence may become overprotective or anxious, inadvertently instilling similar anxiety patterns in their children. Beyond behavioral transmission, emerging research suggests biological mechanisms including epigenetic changes and stress hormone alterations may also contribute to intergenerational trauma effects.

Read at Psychology Today