~ Intergenerational Trauma ~
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Intergenerational Trauma (IT), unlike other types of trauma, refers to
the psychological and biological traumatic harm experienced by someone as it is passed on to their offspring even though their offspring have not directly been exposed to that trauma. IT became an important part of our collective consciousness with the discovery of, and then multitudinous research studies into, psychological harm, PTSD, and associated disorders experienced in the children of first, second and even third generation Holocaust survivors. |
Although there is a plethora of associated research, a good place to begin is with the study by Yehuda, R, Schmeidler, J,and Wainberg, M., et al. Vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder in adult offspring of Holocaust survivors. American Journal of Psychiatry (1998); 155: 1163-71 [PUbMed}. Interestingly, as with Historical and Collective trauma's, we find that the passing on one's traumatic legacy is not just through environmental impact such as how one raises their children, but these types of traumatic impact such as IT can actually affect offspring through the changing or modifying of one's DNA such as the case with epigenetics.
DNA changes through the process of mutation. Mutation is the process of modifying one's genetic make-up. Mutations are either Somatic, or Germ Line. The later are what is passed down through the relational generations. Proposed by Crick in 1958, he referred to the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology to explain the flow of genetic information. DNA is all about genetics acting as our own personal user's manual. It informs the specific sequence of our genes which in turn provide instruction on how to produce the protein molecules that tell us how to think, act, loo, feel, and behave. And then there is epigenetics...
While DNA are produced by heritable factors, epigenetics are based upon both nature and nurture, In other words, epigenetics can and do modify our DNA after birth, outside of biological heredity, but can then become heritable for future generations. Epigenetics is also described often as the process of neural plasticity. Epigenetics produces alterations in gene function caused by changes in gene expression rather than in the alteration of the genetic code itself (DNA). And through the process of epigenetics, IT can and often does affect the offspring of traumatized adults. But it does not have to. Behavioral psychotherapy with experienced PTSD therapists can prevent this alteration from further spread by changing the individual.
DNA changes through the process of mutation. Mutation is the process of modifying one's genetic make-up. Mutations are either Somatic, or Germ Line. The later are what is passed down through the relational generations. Proposed by Crick in 1958, he referred to the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology to explain the flow of genetic information. DNA is all about genetics acting as our own personal user's manual. It informs the specific sequence of our genes which in turn provide instruction on how to produce the protein molecules that tell us how to think, act, loo, feel, and behave. And then there is epigenetics...
While DNA are produced by heritable factors, epigenetics are based upon both nature and nurture, In other words, epigenetics can and do modify our DNA after birth, outside of biological heredity, but can then become heritable for future generations. Epigenetics is also described often as the process of neural plasticity. Epigenetics produces alterations in gene function caused by changes in gene expression rather than in the alteration of the genetic code itself (DNA). And through the process of epigenetics, IT can and often does affect the offspring of traumatized adults. But it does not have to. Behavioral psychotherapy with experienced PTSD therapists can prevent this alteration from further spread by changing the individual.