Intergenerational Trauma: What is it and how does it impact the community?
You may have heard the term ‘intergenerational trauma’ shared by social advocates, online or in the media in the past several years. If you have had the opportunity, you may even have learned some background of what this means. There is a lot of complex history that leads to intergenerational trauma, and an extensive amount of research into the impacts it has on members of the community. We also continue to learn more about it and ways to address it everyday. While understanding all of this would take numerous textbooks worth of information and hours of reading, I hope that this post can provide a small summary to help everyone begin to understand and expand their knowledge.
What is intergenerational trauma?
Intergenerational trauma is a result of a group of people experiencing something with such a negative impact that it continues to influence the generations to come afterward. Major examples of this include slavery of the Black community, forced residential schooling of Indigenous peoples, and the experience of the Holocaust by Jewish folks and other groups. There are many other examples of events and experiences that have caused intergenerational trauma, but this names just a few. The kids, grandkids, and great grandkids of those that experienced these events firsthand are still affected by these today. Understanding this is important for community workers and community members to build empathy and support for those that may require additional resources to manage the impacts of their intergenerational trauma.
How does intergenerational trauma affect individuals?
Science often distinguishes between parts of our behaviour that are caused by nature (what comes to use inherently or on a chemical level) and what is caused by nurture (what has been taught to us by those around us). Intergenerational trauma can impact both of these areas, which will be explained in further detail below:
Nature: When a person experiences something traumatic, this can cause many chemical changes to take place in their brain and body. This can have psychological impacts, such as making their ability to cope with stress more difficult or altering their perception of things that happen to them. This can also have physical impacts because a long-term increase of chemicals that are released during stress or trauma can cause chronic illness or disease. When either or both of these occur while a person is pregnant, these chemical changes in the brain and body can be passed on to the baby, without the baby having experienced the trauma that caused the changes in the first place. Without the supports or resources available to address this, a cycle is created where the impacts of the traumatic event continue to be passed down, generation to generation. Leaving many members of the community struggling with a problem that they had no part in.
Nurture: When a person’s life and way of living are severely impacted, such as in the examples listed above, a lot of healthy habits and ways of being can be lost. If a person is pregnant or has kids and experiences trauma, they often will struggle to provide the same quality of life for their kids as they could have prior to the traumatic experience, particularly when they have little to no resources or supports to help them. Their kids may then grow up with a parent who is struggling to cope with their trauma, and will not have the example of healthy habits or parenting that they normally would. Without the environment to learn this knowledge, it can be lost, and the kids are left to learn for themselves, or pass on the impacts of this loss to the next generation.
How does intergenerational trauma affect my community?
There are many people carrying the burden of intergenerational trauma with them everyday. For those with less access to supports and resources, such as groups who are systemically marginalized, this is even more prevalent and results in disproportionate negative health and societal outcomes. With even more challenges to face, these folks often cannot participate fully in their communities and their voices go unheard. We all are impacted when members of our community are struggling, and we all benefit from ensuring that these members are supported when needed.
What can be done?
Hearing and learning from those with lived experience with intergenerational trauma, and supporting the work that they do to help the community is a great place to start. If you are interested in building a deeper understanding of the history and impacts of intergenerational trauma here in Canada, check out the Indigenous Canada course offered by the University of Alberta, or BrainStory offered by the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (both free of charge).
A small step that I would challenge everyone to do, is to have empathy for those around you. When you begin to make a judgement of someone who seems to be struggling, ask yourself what they or their family could have been through that is making life harder for them. You may never know someone’s story, but you can hold kindness for them regardless. Remind yourself that many are facing intergenerational trauma, and still may not have access to the supports and resources needed to overcome it. We can all be a part of building a community where everyone can thrive, one small step at a time.
