How Intergenerational Trauma Impacts Your Health (+ What You Can Do To Finally Break The Cycle!)

What is intergenerational trauma?

Also referred to as transgenerational or multigenerational trauma, this type of trauma is passed down through generations, from those who first experience a trauma to their descendants. What would have seemed like science fiction not too long ago has become a cutting-edge field in science.

As with many things that get passed down through families, like genetic conditions and physical characteristics, trauma can be inherited too - like cellular heirlooms - due to the fact that trauma can literally change the way your DNA expresses itself.

See, your DNA serves as a sort of map for your body, telling it what to do and how to act on a cellular level. When your environment changes dramatically - such as during a time of major stress or trauma - your DNA doesn’t change fundamentally, but the way it’s read by your body does change.

This is known as epigenetics - the study of what genes get turned on and off by your lifestyle choices and environmental exposures. For example, you may have a genetic proponent for a certain disease but your environment and lifestyle choices make the difference of whether or not that gene gets turned on.

Trauma and stress can be the difference between being diagnosed with a disease and not experiencing it. And interestingly enough, these epigenetic changes don’t just live and die with you - they act as a generational inheritance.

The link between intergenerational trauma + health problems

Not only has trauma been linked to an overactive immune system and subsequent inflammatory autoimmune conditions, trauma can also influence the microglia in your brain - aka your brain’s immune system. When in a high trauma reactive state, the microglia eat away at nerve endings instead of enhancing growth and getting rid of damage. When your microglia go haywire in your brain like this it can lead to depression, anxiety, and other brain problems. 

The issue with this in terms of intergenerational trauma is that this can actually translate into genetic changes which can be passed down to future generations. In fact, research is continuing to examine the link between generational trauma component to a multitude of health issues including:

• Autoimmune conditions
• Diabetes
• Inflammatory cholesterol issues
• Metabolic syndrome
• Weight gain

Looking at the research, researchers have studied the descendants of those who lived through the Holodomor - the human-made famine in Ukraine in the 1930s that resulted in the death of millions of people. The results of the study, (3) which collected data from forty-four people from 15 different Ukrainian families, showed that the coping mechanisms that the survivors adopted in the 1930s were clearly passed down through two and even three generations. Many of the participants had difficulty trusting people, anxiety about food scarcity, hoarding tendencies, low self-worth, social hostility, and risky health behaviors.

And that is just looking at the behavioral repercussions of generational trauma. Another study out of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai looked at physiological markers and found that the descendants of survivors of the Holocaust have distinctive stress hormone profiles. (4) The data showed that those with intergenerational trauma have altered levels of circulating stress hormones. More specifically, they have lower levels of cortisol, a hormone that helps the nervous system and inflammation calm down after a traumatic incident. This may predispose them to anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders.

But one of the biggest examples of this link is found in the Tutsi tribe after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Research (5) looked at the blood of Tutsi women who were pregnant during the Rwandan genocide and found that this traumatic experience resulted in chemical epigenetic modifications that not only affected the development of mental disorders in the mothers, it caused a ripple effect of PTSD and other mental problems that continued in their children.

As a functional medicine practitioner, I consult a lot of people on various genetic mutations that can have different effects on a person’s health depending on the specific mutation. But what is so shocking about intergenerational trauma is that these chemical epigenetic changes have such an immediate effect on the following generations, whereas genetic mutations can take hundreds of years if not more to develop.

Symptoms of intergenerational trauma

If you struggle with one or more of these symptoms it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have intergenerational trauma. However, it is important to take note of what you are experiencing so that you can dive deeper into your health history with your practitioner.

• Aloofness
• Depression
• High anxiety
• Hypervigilance
• Insomnia
• Low confidence
• Low self-esteem
• Mistrust
• Nightmares
• Panic attacks
• Sensitive fight-or-flight response
• Sense of a shortened future

In my telehealth functional medicine clinic, I don’t just focus on lab work and diet. My team and I take a whole-body approach to each person’s healing journey, taking into consideration lifestyle factors, environmental exposures, diet, and yes, current and past trauma. That is truly how you start to heal the mind-body connection and your overall health.

Tools to heal from intergenerational trauma

When it comes to trauma, especially intergenerational trauma that is chemically deeply rooted in your genetics, there is no single supplement or diet that will act as the cure all for everyone. The secret lies in slowing down and tending to your gut-feeling connection. By focusing on your bidirectional relationship between your mental and physical health, you’ll be on your way to reclaiming your health.

1. Feed your gut and your brain 

Your mental and physical health are dynamically influenced by every single bite of food you take. By eating a nutrient-rich diet consisting mainly of clean, whole foods you’ll be fueling your body with the exact things it needs to thrive. From balanced hormones, stabilized blood sugar, enhanced cognitive function, a strong immune system, lowered inflammation, and a healthy gut your meals will help you overcome any physiological dysfunctions happening beneath the surface contributing to mental and physical health problems.

2. Feed your head and your heart 

Your body hears everything your mind says. Work toward making self-compassion, stillness, and moments of mindfulness and relaxation a daily practice. These practices are fuel for your heart and soul and can help lower stress hormones and bring you back to the present moment. And don’t be afraid to seek out extra help through regular counseling sessions to work through any emotions you are still processing or have yet to process.

The Takeaway

With all this said, there is good news. If trauma can be inherited, then healing can be inherited, too. Healing yourself is healing your children’s children and generations that you will never see. On a daily basis, I get to see my patients around the world in my telehealth clinic breaking ancestral chains of pain, shame, and health problems.

As one of the first functional medicine telehealth clinics in the world, we provide webcam health consultations for people around the globe.

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