Part 1- What is Intergenerational Trauma?
Intergenerational trauma could be defined as trauma that has been passed on from trauma survivor to their descendants and can also be referred to as transgenerational or multigenerational trauma. In the South Asian community, generational trauma can stem from their descendants who experienced traumatic events such as the Partition in 1947 of India-Pakistan (Kaur & Jaggi, 2023), the expulsion of South Asians from East Africa, and other experiences related to oppression. Generally, those traumatic experiences are passed on to their next of kin. Looking into the present time, many families have adopted cultural values that can be seen as rigid and strict to other people within the South Asian community and even to outsiders. For example, many responses children learn from their parents focus on how they were given strict rules such as abiding by the elders by showing them respect and never doing anything that can harm or disrespect the entire family. While some of these values can see as important, the way it was told to children sounded more like a duty and not a choice. Many families have no choice, but to do what is being told by their parents and grandparents. The attitude to the trauma they experienced from their parents was the same as the way their parents’ experienced trauma.
When understanding trauma, certain responses activate to help you survive—these are known as trauma responses. This puts your mindset into “survival mode” and learns the adaptive behavior necessary to keep yourself and your family safe/alive, these adaptations may be passed on to future generations and can be challenging to unlearn. Examples of behaviors that can be passed down are codependent relationships with their parents, or it could be extreme feelings of guilt around taking care of them. Also, some may be heavily affected by systems of patriarchy that have been passed down, i.e. mothers and grandmothers were taught to ignore their own needs which causes the creation of unhealthy relationships for future generations.
Trauma can manifest different forms of symptoms and responses such as anger, sadness, guilt, anxiety, reliving the traumatic experience, and/or intrusive images come to mind. “Experiencing trauma can also lead to social withdrawal and a loss of interest in day-to-day activities”(Kaur & Jaggi, 2023).
How to Treat Intergenerational Trauma?
Because intergenerational trauma is inherited across generations, it can be fully healed by creating an environment where additional trauma does not occur for multiple generations. That is why mental health resources are so important for this population and the first step is being aware of the traumatic experiences of how past generations have been affected and what steps individuals can take to break the cycle.
To learn more about Intergenerational Trauma in South Asian populations, check out Dr. Rima Lamba’s article on colonial trauma.
Intergenerational Trauma in the South Asian Diaspora, Part 1 (therightscollective.com
A study that looked at children and grandchildren of Partition survivors and measured the levels of intergenerational trauma.
Intergenerational Trauma in the Context of the 1947 India–Pakistan Partition – PMC (nih.gov)
Citations:
Kaur, H., & Jaggi, P. (2023). Intergenerational Trauma in the Context of the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition. Psychological studies, 1–14. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-023-00730-w
Nadia Raza is an intern counselor at Greenway Therapy. Learn more about her on her BIO page.
