This blog explores trauma and the effects it has on future generations.

Traumatic experiences may not be unique in the sense of how often they occur, but they are unique in how much they overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope. Trauma has an earth-shattering impact on life and often creates a division between the life before and the one after. While this is is world-altering for the person who experienced the trauma, trauma is also a web that affects the family and friends of the survivor. However, trauma might go beyond these impacts alone. Can trauma have such a profound effect on an individual that it can alter their DNA and thus be passed down through reproduction?

Does Trauma Alter Your DNA? 

Anyone who has experienced a trauma can testify that it changes them. But how far does this change go? The National Library of Medicine published a study on The Effects of Trauma, with or without PTSD, on the Transgenerational DNA Methylation Alterations in Human Offsprings. They concluded that exposure to trauma significantly raises an individual’s risk of developing debilitating mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. However, trauma is also believed to alter the biology of some people, which can thus influence the behaviors of their future children. 

Overall, The National Library of Medicine concluded from the existing literature and studies on the subject that the children of severely traumatized parents can have modifications to their methylation that are associated with both trauma and PTSD. This underscores the effects of trauma on the body and demonstrates how in extreme cases it can lead to genetic modifications that can go on to influence the future behavior of the traumatized person’s offspring. While current studies are preliminary and limited, it appears that trauma can determine the activation or deactivation of certain genes, which can be passed down to future offspring. 

Generational Trauma & The Cycle Of Abuse

While trauma may have the ability to alter one’s genetics and thus influence a future lineage, it is also significant to recognize how generational trauma can be repeated over the decades due to learnt cyclical patterns. Trauma can persist in a family in a way aside from genetics when damaging patterns are continued rather than broken. Generational trauma occurs when issues aren’t faced and overcome in one generation. Instead, they are passed down to offspring through biological, environmental, and psychological influence according to Health.

For example, someone who is raised in a household of people who are traumatized might begin to express symptoms of trauma such as depression, anxiety, heart disease, and PTSD. They normalize these patterns in their youth. Devoid of alternative role models or adult examples, the person grows up to instill the family trauma in their offspring. This cycle then continues for their child with their children and so on. In a similar pattern, abuse can also cycle in families. Unfortunately, some victims of abuse go on to become aggressors when they are not able to progress their trauma. They then traumatize others in this seemingly never-ending cycle.

How To Break Trauma In The Family

Trauma by definition may be life-altering, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to overcome it or learn to live with it. However, it’s paramount for those stuck in generations of family trauma to break the cycle. This is easier said than done, especially when families are dealing with overwhelmingly daunting histories such as the Holocaust, genocide, or racial abuse. First, parents must be aware of the ways that trauma can affect their interactions with their children and subconsciously be passed on to them. Parenting for Brain explains that generational trauma can be passed from parent to child due to their parenting styles, social learning, and family systems in addition to epigenetic changes.

To break the cycle once and for all, it is necessary to openly acknowledge it. This means having a brutally honest and almost certainly painful conversation. Trauma cannot be overcome until it is faced, or else it will continue to be repressed and remerge within the family. The next step will likely involve altering the family structure and parenting style to learn how to have healthy relationships and appropriate family dynamics. There are various ways to overcome trauma and form these connections ranging from professional services to journaling to creating happy memories to gradually replace the traumatic ones. 

Closing Thoughts

Trauma is a profound experience that can cause epigenetic changes that can be passed down to future generations. However, there is life after trauma. That is why it is necessary to safely face one’s trauma so that it doesn’t continue to overpower one’s life. Repressing trauma may feel like the safest choice in the moment, but there are long-term consequences that arise when one is unable to face what happened to them. By facing one’s trauma in the present, it can have a significantly reduced influence on the future even if it will always be a part of the person.

Continued Reading: Can A New Therapy Repair Identity After Trauma?