Breaking the Cycle : Understanding the Flow of Generational Trauma - Part 1
“It’s up to us to break generational curses. When they say, “It runs in the family,” you tell them, “And this is where it runs out.””
Have you ever heard someone brush off unhealthy family patterns by saying, “It runs in the family”? As if genetics were destined!? This notion implies that our genes control our behavior, leaving us feeling powerless to break free from cycles of pain, dysfunction, or trauma.
What if I told you that this belief doesn’t have to be the end of the story, but rather marks the beginning of your journey toward transformation? Perhaps you’ve found yourself overreacting to situations, wondering, “Where did that come from?” Or maybe you’ve seen the same destructive patterns play out generation after generation, as if invisible forces are guiding everyone down the same painful path.
These are not just coincidences or permanent aspects of your family’s destiny. They represent the effects of generational trauma—patterns that echo through our lineage. But here’s the good news: these patterns can be recognized, addressed, and, ultimately, transformed.
How Trauma Flows Through Generations
Most people think of trauma as something that happens “in the mind”—an emotional or mental experience that gets locked away in our memories. However, what’s interesting is our bodies hold onto every traumatic experience, often storing these memories in ways that can affect us for years to come.
When something traumatic occurs, our entire system goes into overdrive. You might feel immediate tension—do your muscles tense up? Is your heart racing? All of these sensations are encoded into our physical being. If we don’t have the chance to fully process and release this stress response, it doesn’t simply disappear; instead, it gets trapped in our bodies, leading to chronic tension, unexplained pain, or physical symptoms that defy medical explanation.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, the author of ‘The Body Keeps the Score,’ explains, ‘Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain, and body.’ This imprint doesn’t just affect us individually—it can be passed down to future generations.
Studies show that when our ancestors experienced extremely stressful situations, their muscles would tense and freeze as part of the natural “fight or flight” response. If they didn’t have the opportunity to fully recover and release this response after the danger had passed, the emotions tied to that trauma became embedded in their tissues and encoded in their DNA, effectively passing on this trauma to subsequent generations.
Three Pathways of Inherited Trauma
Biological Inheritance
Just as we inherit our ancestors’ genetic traits—such as hair and eye color- we also inherit their sensitivity to trauma. Research published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that traumatic experiences can bring about epigenetic changes that are passed down through generations. While these changes don’t alter our DNA sequences, they impact how our genes are expressed.
Dr. Monnica Williams’ research on racial trauma highlights how those who endure race-based stress develop specific biological markers and stress responses that can be passed on to their children. This suggests that the repercussions of trauma can biologically flow from one generation to the next. This finding aligns with what many cultures have instinctively known for generations: that certain traits and sensitivities can be “in the blood.”
Our bodies hold memories, even if our conscious minds remain unaware of them. When our ancestors faced extreme hardships, their nervous systems adapted for survival. These biological adaptations, encoded in our DNA through epigenetic changes, influence how we react to stress and threats today—even when the original dangers are no longer present.
Psychological Inheritance
The way our ancestors handled trauma plays a crucial role in shaping how we deal with challenges in our lives today. Their coping strategies—whether they were healthy or unhealthy—often form the psychological patterns we follow without even realizing it. When family members struggled to deal with their own traumatic experiences, they unintentionally passed down their coping mechanisms to the next generation through their behavior, reactions, and the messages they conveyed.
Dr. Shauna Cooper’s research on the influence of social and cultural contexts in African American development highlights how experiences of discrimination and trauma create specific family dynamics and coping strategies that get passed down through generations. While these patterns may have emerged as protective measures, they can become restrictive over time, particularly when the original threats no longer exist.
For example, a grandmother who endured economic hardship. She might develop an obsession with saving resources, inadvertently teaching her children and grandchildren to fear scarcity, even when they are financially stable. Similarly, a father who faced betrayal during his childhood might unconsciously instill a sense of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in his children, making it hard for them to trust others for generations to come.
Children absorb these coping mechanisms through observation and subtle conditioning, often without giving it much conscious thought. Phrases like “what happens in this house stays in this house” or “just get over it” usually reflect psychological inheritance patterns that discourage open discussions about trauma.
Cultural Inheritance
Consider the unspoken rules that exist within your family—those unwritten guidelines everyone seems to know without ever being directly taught. Perhaps one of these rules was to avoid mentioning certain relatives, or how conversations tended to hush when children walked into the room. There may also have been emotions that simply weren’t acknowledged or allowed to be expressed.
Trauma is not only inherited through genetics and learned behaviors; it also shapes how our families and communities operate. When a culture has experienced significant events, such as war, displacement (like gentrification), natural disasters, or ongoing hardship, it develops collective survival strategies. These strategies get handed down like treasured family recipes, only instead of food recipes, they are recipes for coping with pain.
In most cases, these cultural behaviors become so normal that we fail to recognize them as responses to trauma. A family that refrains from discussing feelings isn’t merely “private” — they might be continuing a survival tactic from ancestors who couldn’t afford to be emotionally vulnerable. Those who juggle multiple jobs and take pride in extreme self-reliance aren’t simply “independent” — they could very well be reacting to a history of abandonment or betrayal.
Interestingly enough, many families have topics that remain strictly off-limits, events so painful that they become shrouded in silence. Yet, this silence itself turns into a form of family inheritance. Children grow up sensing these mysterious gaps in their family’s narratives, feeling the weight of secrets they don’t even know exist.
But here’s the uplifting part: cultural inheritance isn’t solely about pain. It also encompasses the remarkable strength, wisdom, and resilience that allowed our ancestors to endure and flourish against daunting odds. Acknowledging this resilience can inspire us and deepen our connection to our heritage.
Epigenetic Change: When Genes Respond to Experience
Epigenetics, as explained by Dr. Bruce Lipton, is the study of how environmental factors can influence gene expression without altering the actual DNA sequence. It examines how our behaviors and surroundings lead to changes that affect the way our genes function. While these epigenetic changes don’t modify the DNA itself, they determine how our cells utilize the DNA instructions—essentially deciding which genes are turned “on” or “off.”
For example, experiencing trauma can cause specific genes linked to stress response to remain in a heightened state, effectively putting the body on “high alert.” This continuous state of hypervigilance can become the norm, leading to an ongoing release of stress hormones within the body.
Research published in the journal Biological Psychiatry has shown that children of trauma survivors exhibit different methylation patterns in genes related to stress hormones. This provides concrete evidence that the effects of trauma can be passed down through generations.
A Personal Experience
Let me share a personal experience that sheds light on how this plays out in our everyday lives. Growing up in an environment where silence was the norm, I developed a strong dislike for conflict. However, after enduring an emotionally abusive relationship, I now find myself feeling particularly anxious during aggressive encounters—often even when the hostility isn’t aimed at me.
Working in retail, if someone approached me with hostility—you know, because they’ve “woke up on the wrong side of the bed”—I’ve noticed something intriguing happening in my body.
I have always been good at keeping my professional composure, choosing to “bite my tongue” rather than match their energy. Yet, once they leave, my mind replays the encounter, making it hard for me to let the situation go. During those moments, I often rehearse everything I “should have” or “could have” said.
Before long, my left arm feels significantly heavier, and a physical sensation begins to emerge: tension crawls from my hand up to the left side of my neck. This discomfort can be quite intense and lingering. I’ve found that unless I “release” this pent-up energy by discussing the situation with someone right away, the tension remains—sometimes for hours.
This reaction is a classic “fight or flight” response; my body interprets these interactions as perceived threats. It’s also a striking example of epigenetics in action. But could this reaction be rooted in something a little deeper? Dr. William Smith Jr.’s research on “racial battle fatigue” highlights a hypervigilant state, where the nervous system is constantly activated by ongoing stress, leading to heightened physical and emotional responses to situations that might seem trivial to others.
What if I’m carrying the defensive patterns of ancestors who faced real threats to their survival? Did they swallow their words in challenging situations, storing that unexpressed energy in their bodies, and somehow, that tension made its way into my DNA?
My quest to understand these physical responses sent me on a deep dive that transformed my understanding of my reactions. I wanted to explore: Why does my nervous system go haywire over seemingly minor issues? Where do these patterns originate? And most importantly, how can I reshape them for my own benefit?
Possible Signs of Generational Trauma in Your Life
Generational trauma often manifests in recognizable patterns. Dr. Thema Bryant’s research on trauma responses sheds light on why some reactions may seem out of proportion to current situations—they’re often rooted in inherited patterns rather than what’s happening in the moment.
It’s important to understand that generational trauma often leads to what Dr. Judith Herman describes as Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Unlike traditional PTSD, which arises from isolated traumatic incidents, C-PTSD develops as a result of prolonged and repeated exposure to trauma—especially within family environments where escaping the situation feels impossible. This can manifest in various ways, such as growing up with emotional invalidation, enduring chronic family dysfunction, or facing constant stress that eventually becomes normalized.
People with C-PTSD experience many symptoms similar to those of traditional PTSD. Yet, they also grapple with unique challenges that impact their fundamental sense of self and their ability to forge connections with others.
Common Trauma Symptoms (found in both PTSD and C-PTSD):
Unexplained Anxiety: A persistent feeling of being on edge without understanding the cause.
Hypervigilance: Always on alert, scanning your surroundings for potential danger, even when you’re in a safe environment.
Somatic Symptoms: Experiencing physical discomfort, tension, or illness without a known medical reason.
Heightened Startle Response: An exaggerated reaction to sudden surprises or noises.
Additional Complex Trauma Symptoms:
Emotional Dysregulation: Experiencing intense emotions that can feel overwhelming or completely out of control.
Relationship Patterns: Falling into repetitive, unhealthy dynamics through generations and finding it difficult to trust others.
Negative Self-Concept: Persistent feelings of shame or worthlessness, along with believing you are fundamentally different from others.
Identity Fragmentation: Struggling to connect with your true self or to understand who you really are.
Survival Guilt: Feeling unworthy of happiness because of the suffering of your ancestors.
Emotional Numbing: Trouble accessing or expressing feelings in a meaningful way.
These manifestations indicate more profound disturbances that exist just below the surface of conscious awareness. Gaining insight into whether your experiences are more aligned with single-event trauma or complex trauma can significantly inform your healing journey.
Continuing the Journey
In Part 2 of this series, we will explore how inherited patterns create cycles within our families and communities. Most importantly, we’ll focus on starting the process of healing these ingrained wounds. We will explore practical ways to shift these influential patterns toward healing and transformation, drawing on insights from both modern science and timeless wisdom.
Understanding these issues is only the first step; the path to transformation still lies ahead.
References
Bryant-Davis, T., & Ocampo, C. (2005). Racist Incident–Based Trauma. The Counseling Psychologist, 33(4), 479-500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000005276465 (Original work published 2005)
Cooper, S.M., Brown, C., Metzger, I. et al. Racial Discrimination and African American Adolescents’ Adjustment: Gender Variation in Family and Community Social Support, Promotive and Protective Factors. J Child Fam Stud 22, 15–29 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9608-y
Dias, B., Ressler, K. Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nat Neurosci 17, 89–96 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3594
Herman, J. L. (2015). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books.
Lipton, B. H. (2005). The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles. Mountain of Love/Elite Books.
Smith, W. A., Allen, W. R., & Danley, L. L. (2007). "Assume the position...You fit the description": Psychosocial experiences and racial battle fatigue among African American male college students. *American Behavioral Scientist, 51*(4), 551–578. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207307742
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
Williams, M. T., Metzger, I. W., Leins, C., & DeLapp, C. (2018). Assessing racial trauma within a DSM–5 framework: The UConn Racial/Ethnic Stress & Trauma Survey. Practice Innovations, 3(4), 242–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000076
As someone who has navigated the depths of inherited and personal trauma, my quest for understanding has evolved into my purpose—to shed light on these hidden patterns and support others in transforming their lives for the better. — Natasha Marie✨
