INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA TRANSFER

"It didn't start with you... but it can end with you.’’

-Mark Wolynn, It Didn't Start with You.

What is Trauma?

Traumatic experiences are the experiences that an individual encounters in the natural course of life and that create psychological difficulties and leave a mark on the individual by disabling the individual's coping strategies. These experiences can cause mental symptoms such as depression, anxiety and physical symptoms such as palpitations and tremors in the individual. Depending on the destructiveness of the traumatic experience and the extent to which it affects the individual, it can also be passed on to subsequent generations. There are also psychological and biological approaches to this transfer of trauma.

Transmission of Trauma from Generation to Generation

Intergenerational trauma transfer covers the transfer of individual and social traumas to subsequent generations physically and spiritually. Although social traumas affect a wider audience, they can be more easily investigated. The first studies on the intergenerational transmission of trauma began with studies on the children of victims of genocide and war. Dec. The study data on the transmission of individual traumas are more limited than the data of social trauma studies. While studies have been able to provide information about how individuals who have experienced social traumas such as genocide can transmit this trauma to their children and even grandchildren and how it happened, information about how individual traumas such as harassment can be transmitted to subsequent generations is quite limited.

Transmission of Trauma Through Genes

Although biological approaches are still being discussed, the data we have have shown that trauma can also be transmitted through genes. These traumas and their effects can also be epigenetically inherited to future generations. The concept of epigenetic change describes the activation of genes that are not normally active as a result of various conditions. From this point of view, trauma transmitted to a child through genes can be activated as a result of the environment in which he grew up and the conditions to which he was exposed. Some studies show that the children of parents who are exposed to intense stress during pregnancy and have post-traumatic stress disorder are also born more prone to stress than other children. As a result, we can understand that the likelihood of developing trauma is also increasing.

In a study conducted on people who were tortured during World War II, were in concentration camps or witnessed torture, a significant difference was observed between the genes of the children of genocide survivors and the genes of the children of people who had never been exposed to trauma. Dec. According to the researchers, this genetic change occurred due to the severe trauma experienced by the parents.

In addition, recent research has shown that coping mechanisms are also transmitted to generations through genes. In individuals whose family has experienced famine, earthquake, flood or war, children's stress and coping strategies are transferred. It seems that the children of parents who cope with their traumas in a healthy way also have a higher capacity to cope with stress and process the situation when faced with any situation.

Transferring Trauma through Social Learning

People who have experienced trauma develop some reactions and coping strategies to situations and individuals as a result of their experiences. They also reflect these reactions and strategies they develop when they become parents to the relationships they establish with their children and their approaches to them. It is observed that children who follow the example of their parents, identify with them and live within the rules set by them imitate their behavioral patterns as a result of this situation; internalize their reactions and strategies. It is observed that children of parents with traumatic experiences develop a type of attachment called traumatic attachment. Children who grow up with overly strict, perfectionist attitudes that parents develop as a result of negative experiences may also internalize these attitudes or perform the opposite avoidance. For example, the mother's fear of the dark eventually becomes the child's fear as a result of observing the mother and the mother's attitudes. Thus, she internalizes the trauma of the mother. In addition to all these, clearly and clearly transferring the trauma experienced by the family to the child without filtering can also reveal trauma in the child.

If we take it in general, the factors affecting the transmission of trauma are as follows:

• The way parents raise their children

* The relationship established Decoupled between parent and child

• The way parents process trauma to children

• How children will experience the transmitted trauma

If you want to get more detailed information about this topic, I recommend reading the book ‘It Didn't Start with You’ written by Mark Wolly.

REFERENCES

Çelik, C. (2022, Agustos 22). Kuşaklar Arası Travma Aktarımı. Cemil Çelik: https://www.cemilcelik.com.tr/kusaklar-arasi-travma-aktarimi/ adresinden alındı

Karatay, G. (2020). Tarihsel/Toplumsal Travmalar ve Kuşaklararası Aktarımı Biçimleri Üzerine. Süreli Tıp Eğitimi Dergisi,29, 373-379. doi: 10.17942/sted.767797

Mona Psikoloji. (2020, Kasım 10). Travmanın Kuşaklararası Aktarımı. Mona Psikoloji: https://www.monapsikoloji.com/travmanin-kusaklararasi-aktarimi/