Generational Trauma and The Importance of Healing We know that the color of our hair and eyes is passed to us through generations, from grandparents to parents and then to us, but what about trauma, is it possible that it can be passed to us through generations? Generational trauma is a trauma that extends from one generation to the next affecting the individual even if they didn't experience the trauma themselves. It can be silent, covert, and undefined, surfacing through nuances and inadvertently taught or implied throughout someone's life from an early age onward. Generational trauma was first recognized when the American Psychological Association, in 1966, Canadian psychiatrist Vivian M. Rakoff, MD, and Dr. Rakoff's colleagues recorded high rates of psychological distress among children of individuals who survived the Holocaust, in theory, any type of extreme, prolonged stress could have adverse psychological effects on children and grandchildren, resulting in clinical anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Any generation that experienced colonization, cultural genocide, forced migration, prolonged war, abuse, poverty, and racism is vulnerable to generational trauma. The symptoms of generational trauma are primarily psychological, they may include hypervigilance, a sense of a shortened future, mistrust, aloofness, high anxiety, dissociation, and depersonalization, or a sense of disconnection and detachment from your body and feelings, panic attacks, nightmares, insomnia, a sensitive fight or flight response, and issues with self-esteem and self-confidence; it can also affect the microglia, the 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," Dr. DeSilva said. "The microglia go haywire in the brain and cause depression, anxiety, and dementia. This can decode into genetic changes, which can be passed down to further generations.". You may not be able to rewrite your genes or change your past, but you can certainly take steps to address your trauma response and begin healing to avoid passing it to the next generation.  Generational trauma can be resolved if a holistic, intense intervention is implemented, but education about generational trauma can be beneficial. Therapy is only one way, but not the only way, to heal from the impacts and legacies of trauma, reconnecting to your cultural wisdom and knowledge and comprehending the last generation's healing methods is essential. Getting generational trauma from our parents is not our fault, but passing it to the next generation is. Let us all take a step forward to break the generational trauma.

By: Ayat Abdullhameed