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Can Trauma be Passed on through our DNA? [UpLiftConnect.com]

 

Intergenerational Trauma is the idea that serious trauma can affect the children and grandchildren of those who had the first hand experience, due to living with a person suffering from PTSD and the challenges that can bring. What’s new is that, thanks to the emerging field of epigenetics, science is discovering that trauma is being passed down to future generations through more than simply learned behaviours.

One widely reported example is of holocaust survivors passing on the effects of trauma to children and grandchildren. It seems that trauma or its effects are being passed down through our genes, and it has enormous consequences for us as a species.



[For more of this story, written by Jonathan Davis, go to http://upliftconnect.com/intergenerational-trauma/]

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In his book "It Didn't Start With You", Mark Wolynn addresses these same issues.  It is both fascinating and disheartening that this kind of transmission is happening.  It makes the work more important to prevent ACES and trauma from taking place at all, and yet it is even more common now than ever. 

This is both good and bad news.

Good in that we have some control over the gene expression of children we bear. And it's further reason to heal, not only for our individual selves.

Bad in that it can put further undue pressure/guilt to make sure we try to heal the trauma earlier, as well as eat healthily - be vigilant about our lifestyle, until we've finished bearing children.  It means the disadvantaged can have an overly disproportionate amount of work to do. Same old.

'Thanks' a lot then, to both sides of the family: great great great grandparents and those going forward from them! Pay it forward can take on a whole new meaning!

I often wondered about how far back the abuse, etc must have occurred. I thought it had to be learnt behaviour continually passed down from generation to generation. Interesting research. Makes some sense.

 

Last edited by Mem Lang
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