When I consider how trauma affected my life, and what I have done to address it, I wonder about my relatives. Many of their life challenges were much greater than mine, with no therapeutic support or understanding on how to process trauma over time. My heart hurts when thinking about this, and I am curious about its impact on their family or lineage.
For example, my grandfather was a highly decorated British Royal Air Force Group Captain, riding his Spitfire into many conflicts and dealing with hand-to-hand combat behind enemy lines! I can only imagine how that affected his life over the next sixty years, and – in turn – my mom’s upbringing.
Apparently, this notion of “intergenerational trauma” is being studied quite seriously, as described in an amazing BBC Article (from which I cite copiously below) that shared several recent studies. Apparently, the effect of trauma is being passed down via a proven (but relatively new age) concept called Epigenetics.
Epigenetics is the process of modifying genes without changing the DNA code itself. Tiny chemical tags are added to or removed from our DNA in response to changes in the environment in which we are living. These tags turn genes on or off, offering us a way of adapting to changing conditions without inflicting a more permanent shift in our genome.
A 2013 study found an intergenerational effect of trauma in mice associated with scent. The researchers blew the scent of cherry blossom through the cages of adult male mice, zapping their feet with electric currents at the same time. Over several repetitions, the mice associated the smell of cherry with pain.
Shortly afterwards, these males bred with female mice. When their offspring smelled the scent of cherry, they became jumpier and more nervous than those whose fathers hadn’t been conditioned to fear it. This sensitivity to cherry scent was linked back to epigenetic modifications in their sperm DNA. When the team dissected the offspring mice’s brains, they also found there was a greater number of neurons that detect the cherry compared with control mice.
The next generations don’t always show exactly the same trait that their parents developed. In this case, they appear to not fear the scent itself, but rather have a heightened sensitivity to the scent that caused the fear. Passing down the effects of trauma, even if subtly altered between generations, influences our physiology and mental health. This increases the importance of considering our parents’ lives when trying to improve our own situations. It also impacts how to think about marginalized populations within the context of their cultural treatment during the past centuries.
My compassion is through the roof, but the news isn’t all bad. They also found that when mice “unlearn” the association of a scent with pain, the next generation escapes the sensitivities discussed. This knowledge adds fuel to our passion for creating space where people have access to modalities that help them release the past, enjoy the present, and expand into their highest future self. Knowing that this then affects their family tree is so beautiful and inspiring. We look forward to announcing some big advancements about Simply Shenandoah soon!
Epigenetics is an illuminating lens to approach the conversation about nature and nurture factors of human development. Whether it's fake or real, it takes a brave person to look at the layers and origins of trauma and heal. Thankfully there are multiple modalities and synergistic practices to heal based on science and ancient wisdom.
Epigenetics has been on my radar for a long time. For years, most of my life really, I wondered if healthy lifestyle and diet changes could help my siblings and other relatives who suffer with HSP, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. It's a rare genetic disorder similar to MS if I had to choose. Some have reversed MS and others have not made the life changes to do so. I'm the only one in my large family who is whole-food, plant based and I've recovered from many health challenges by making the change. As a nurse of 30 years, I've also witnessed other "miracles" when people have made the changes necessary for health, but for those who don't, well the outcome…
Long before studies with mice and rats were verifying intergenerational trauma, I was reading the European psychologist Alice Miller, who wrote about the effects of the holocaust on the children of holocaust survivors, particularly in families where there was an intentional silence about the genocide. Still to this day, her stories are some of the most moving I have read, especially the story of Hitler's brutal childhood and how he passed his trauma down to millions in WWII.
Wow!!! I just interviewed a new participant who spoke about being beaten by and not liking his mother He later spoke about how his dad had beaten her prior to their divorce. By the way, he has a history of domestic violence involving in his son.