Have you ever wondered why are you the way you are now?Certain traits or behaviour of your own you want to change but are difficult to control.
Our mind and body are complex tools. Recent studies have shown that not only physical diseases get passed on to you but the trauma your ancestors have suffered can be too. This is called generational trauma or Intergenerational trauma.Sufferings and triggers passed on to you in your DNA from your ancestors can affect how you live and behave today. Families can be complicated and messy and no family is perfect family. Parents using verbal or physical abuse to handle the tantrums or anger thrown by child will lead the child to adapt the same behaviour and the same child when grows up and becomes a parent he/she will exhibit the same behaviour on his/her child. The child may feel like he/she is not being understood.
A 2015 study by Dr. Rachel Yehuda at Mount Sinai Hospital found that the descendants of Holocaust survivors are more likely to have PTSD and stress hormones other than the normal people.Ever seen a serial killer movie or documentary? People who grow up to become serial killers or murders often had experienced some trauma inflicted upon them during their childhood or even when they are of age.
Some of the traits that can be categorised into generational trauma are-
- Tolerance to domestic violence
- Profound anger
- Poor Physical health
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Lack of self confidence
- Nightmares
- Too much independent behaviour
- Depression
- Fear of loneliness
- People pleasing
- Hyper vigilant
How to overcome these?
Generational trauma has a domino effect. Symptoms or traits of generational trauma can get amplified over time if not taken proper professional help. It is important for one to know oneself better, to understand what you are triggered by and hop on to long journey of healing yourself. You cannot completely get rid of trauma but you can treat it overtime and move on from your traumatic experience. Well, therapy is one way to deal with it. There are also family counselling, medication prescribed by professional advisors, meditation available to heal from generational traumas. The best way is to sit down and talk with your family. There is no problem that cannot be solved by communication. It is probable that parents were a victim of generational trauma too and did not have the handbook of perfect parenting.
Heal yourself so we don t have another generation of trauma!
