Intergenerational Trauma & Epigenetics: Part 1
These are big and fascinating subjects: Intergenerational or transgenerational trauma and Epigenetics.
These are close to my heart, mind and soul, mostly because my life has been greatly influenced and affected by intergenerational trauma. You may have your own experience with intergenerational trauma…..or know someone who does. So many people and families have been affected by trauma: war, natural disasters, abuse, genocide, and more. It’s important to understand the impact on you and future generations and to, perhaps, even be the one who breaks the cycle.
So, let’s start by explaining these concepts…….
What’s INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA?
It’s also called transgenerational trauma and it’s the psychological and physiologic effects that the trauma experienced by people has on subsequent generations in that group (Knowledge).
Intergenerational trauma is a concept developed to help explain years of generational challenges within families. It’s the transmission (or sending down to younger generations) of the oppressive or traumatic effects of a historical event.
Much of this information is taken from the groundbreaking work of Dr Rachel Yehuda, an expert in intergenerational trauma and epigenetics. She defines trauma as:
Objective definition: an event that is catastrophic; a watershed event that divides your life into a before and an after; usually life-threatening, and makes you feel scared and helpless.
Subjective definition: something that can have a cataclysmic affect on one person and not on another; varies with different people; that past experience that changed them.
Complex Trauma (& PTSD):
When assaults (trauma) early in life (developmental insults) occur, we may not be aware (consciously) and may not be able to metabolize it……….and are traumatized. If you’d had this and then another traumatic event occurs later on, it can cause more trauma (PTSD: posttraumatic stress disorder).
Early vs. Later Trauma:
Adversity in early life, that you couldn’t metabolize vs. watershed moment (ie: World Trade Center attacks).
Early trauma: when an adverse experience occurs later on, you know it shouldn’t occur. If you have early trauma, your expectation in the world is hardened and you’re also more vulnerable. It’s additive and has more of an impact if you’re traumatized early on (developmentally).
Those who had an early history of adversity have a different frame of reference.
If you had support in your early years, even with adversity and trauma, you become more resilient and buoyed by the fact that someone was there (even if not those closest to you). You know you were loved and that you’re worthy of it.
For war survivors, refugees; if someone was there and propped you up and gave you feedback and validation, it validates that yes, you’re heard and it will get better. Otherwise, you can be somewhat lost later in life.
EPIGENETICS: is the study of how genes are regulated and the DNA you’re born with comes to express itself. It’s like turning genes on and off, to express their destiny. This process continues throughout life. So, things that happened in our environment can modify how some of our genes function.
Epigenetics lets us know that the decades-long debate of nature/nurture….well, it’s both. The things that happen to you can influence genes, so you’re constantly changing with these different life experiences. There will be some things that don’t change: ie: eye color, but many do.
This is great if you feel stuck or doomed with a certain genetic makeup. This also lets us know that what happens in our lives matters and these events and experiences shape us. And our genes can also shape us. Both nature/nurture work together.
EPIGENETICS & INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA:
Trauma: a major cataclysmic event happens in your life. You may feel changed after or ‘I’m not the same person I used to be’. The structure of your DNA is not different but you feel different.
The epigenetic changes after trauma may explain this feeling. It may have been that your stress response was changed by epigenetic mechanisms (like an on/off switch of a gene).
EPIGENETIC CHANGES & EFFECTS OF INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA:
When cells divide (normal), the epigenetic change will be handed down to the 2 cells it’s divided into. Epigenetic changes can, in the same way, survive in the sperm and egg. This is one way of transmitting this epigenetic material to the next generation.
Another way is in utero; things that happen to the mother while pregnant, can cause epigenetic changes to the fetus.
A third way is: behavioral (Michael Meeney, Canada). The parents behavior can influence their baby’s responses to stress and more. If trauma impacted you, it can then affect your child. This is a powerful discovery.
I must say that this resonates with me and interests me; I am the daughter of Holocaust ‘hidden children’ survivors. Dr Rachel Yehuda has studied and researched our group extensively.(second generation or 2G).
Those who have multiple generations of trauma may have adapted to both the trauma and to surviving (resilience). Our body also holds the information for coping. So, it can be both awful (our family has suffered greatly and we may, too) and helpful (learning how to cope with adversity).
So, the behaviors of the next generation can give them more resilence but, at the same time, have maladaptive behaviors (ie: PTSD), that are tough to live with.
TREATMENT & HEALING OF TRAUMA:
-must be tailored to each person and experience.
-ie: for PTSD, there are various treatments, some of which work. Sometimes, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapies) can help to desensitize you to a negative memory (ie: physical assault), usually related to fear. This can be distressing for some.
For others, they don’t want to relive their trauma and benefit from medications (covers symptoms) and psychedelic-assisted therapy can confront a trauma so that you’re not running away from it, in your mind (with fear, shame, guilt and more complex). CBT can be hard with complex PTSD.
With PTSD, you’re often stuck in a narrative; ie: it was my fault; I didn’t do enough to resist, etc. This can be hard to work through head on (CBT). With psychedelic-assisted therapy, you can more readily get to your ‘stuck point.’ You can play and change your view of what your choices were (ie: as a soldier in war) and have self-compassion and understanding, so that you can go on and live a good and even, meaningful life.
Trauma creates a rigid narrative that you’re stuck to and this treatment helps to make it less rigid, so that you can metabolize it. It’s still there but it’s not all of you and there are positive things you can do now.
Healing with TRAUMA: you make room for and accept what happened and you have to mourn the loss of innocence (ie: being a changed person).
NOTE: Much of the good in the world is done by folks who have dealt with adversity, suffered and experienced trauma. You learn to let up on yourself and start looking at things from a different perspective. You can be a positive force in the world.
This implies the fact that TRAUMA isn’t necessarily what happened to you (external) but is what happens, inside of you (internally), because of what happened to you (externally). (Dr. Gabor Mate)
You develop a love, compassion and empathy for yourself and stop the self-loathing…………..a big and important part of starting to heal trauma.
There is so much present knowledge, information and insights into intergenerational trauma, healing and epigenetics. We will continue with these subjects in the next blog post.
With smiles and love,
Dr Gigi
PS: Please read my blog posts; they are filled with helpful information! You can sign up for them @www.gigiarnaud.com. There are many about trauma, anxiety, mind/body, empathy, self-love, self-care and so much more.
It’s 2023; if you feel that it’s YOUR time to start healing, sign up for a free Clarity call with me @www.gigiarnaud.com
I really look forward to meeting you……..and am so curious about your ‘story,’…………………….
Change your Thoughts, Change your Mind, Change your World