Study shows children of Holocaust survivors react differently to trauma

"Modern medicine usually considers trauma—both the physical and the psychological kinds—as unequivocally damaging. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University are lending support to a more philosophical view of suffering, finding that trauma, however terrible, may have distinct psychological benefits....

"Trans-generational transmission of trauma seems to limit offspring's positive adaptation following trauma, say the researchers. As for future research, Dekel, who is now affiliated with the Psychiatry Department of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, plans to focus on identifying objective markers of post-traumatic growth in trauma survivors and their children, looking at things like stress-hormone levels, open-ended narrative descriptions, and reports by friends."

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-children-holocaust-survivors-react-differently.html

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