“Trauma has the power to reach out from the past and claim new victims.” ~Dr. David Sack, addiction psychiatrist In Mark Wolynn’s book, It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle, he dives deep into the specifics of epigenetics.
Like you, I have been inteerested in intergenerational trauma, epigenetics and emotional inheritance for a long time. What I learned was that stress hormones get passed down and inherited for 3 generations. It was eye-opening to read that the impact could be even longer, as what you mentioned in this article. It's very hard for me to trace the traumas from my ancestors, as little was remembered let alone written. I can only make guesses based on history and the tiny bits of stories my mother told. I suspect she had repressed a great deal and it became the dysfunctional way she relates to others. It then becomes a sort of personal investigation to piece together the puzzle of what I have inherited. I'm relieved that I never became a mother. But my mother used to ask me why I didn't have children. I couldn't tell her the truth. I think healing ourselves is the best we can do to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
I completely agree, Louisa. When we heal ourselves, we help to improve relationships we have with anyone in our inner circle, in any relationship, familial or platonic or co-worker or otherwise. Thanks for reading and posting. :) It is indeed like trying to put together a puzzle from very very few pieces of a puzzle.
Yes, Danielle. This healing work is deep, hard, tedious but so so important. It is ultimately an expression of love. And it helps to consider how impactful it is to even make one person breathe a little easier. And that person can be "me" or anyone in our close circle.
Like you, I have been inteerested in intergenerational trauma, epigenetics and emotional inheritance for a long time. What I learned was that stress hormones get passed down and inherited for 3 generations. It was eye-opening to read that the impact could be even longer, as what you mentioned in this article. It's very hard for me to trace the traumas from my ancestors, as little was remembered let alone written. I can only make guesses based on history and the tiny bits of stories my mother told. I suspect she had repressed a great deal and it became the dysfunctional way she relates to others. It then becomes a sort of personal investigation to piece together the puzzle of what I have inherited. I'm relieved that I never became a mother. But my mother used to ask me why I didn't have children. I couldn't tell her the truth. I think healing ourselves is the best we can do to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
I completely agree, Louisa. When we heal ourselves, we help to improve relationships we have with anyone in our inner circle, in any relationship, familial or platonic or co-worker or otherwise. Thanks for reading and posting. :) It is indeed like trying to put together a puzzle from very very few pieces of a puzzle.
Yes, Danielle. This healing work is deep, hard, tedious but so so important. It is ultimately an expression of love. And it helps to consider how impactful it is to even make one person breathe a little easier. And that person can be "me" or anyone in our close circle.