Stress – Loganalogy- Your Family Historian

My sister messaged me after reading How Our Ancestors Managed Anxiety and Stress: Lessons for Today. She told me that she has been more focused on ancestry because she’s been reading research on “generational trauma” and how it changes our DNA. She stated that if we consider from a more expansive perspective, it helps to make more sociocultural sense about how lived realities are passed to future generations.

I initially responded that I had done a blog post about this years ago, but in reality, my blog post was about “psychological inheritance.” Are they similar?

Psychological inheritance refers to inherited traits, behaviors, and reactions that are passed down through generations. Generational trauma, also known as intergenerational or transgenerational trauma, is a cycle of trauma that can be passed down through families, either directly or indirectly. It can include how people view life, and these traits can persist over time. Do You Know What Your Emotional Genealogy Is?

Generational trauma can include emotional and behavioral reactions from ancestors or older relatives that affect future generations. Some examples of trauma that can cause generational trauma include:
~Personal trauma, such as child or domestic abuse.
~Trauma experienced by a specific cultural, racial, or ethnic group.
~Major events like wars, slavery, the Holocaust, and colonial violence against Native Americans. Do You Know What Your Generational Trauma Is?

Trauma can be inherited through epigenetics, meaning that trauma experienced by an ancestor might influence how your genes are expressed. This can result in changes to your DNA expression, impacting your mood, reactions, health, and susceptibility to conditions. For example, Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, says that intergenerational trauma can be seen in how children adjust to their parent’s behavior. For example, if a mother freezes when her child laughs, the child might learn not to laugh in front of their mother.

So, what did my sister mean when she said it could change our DNA?

Intergenerational trauma is the theory that trauma can be inherited because there are genetic changes in a person’s DNA. The changes from trauma do not damage the gene (genetic change). Instead, they alter how the gene functions (epigenetic change).

It’s important to recognize and address intergenerational trauma in order to prevent passing it on to the next generation. The first step is acknowledging its existence, which can be difficult due to confronting painful family histories and accepting that parents or other relatives may have been sources of trauma.

Being aware of the signs and symptoms of trauma in yourself and your family is empowering. It’s important to learn healthy coping skills and emotional regulation techniques in order to break the cycle.

Creating secure attachments, especially between parents and children, can help break the cycle of generational trauma. This involves building relationships based on trust, safety, and emotional connection.

As we explore the depths of our ancestral roots, it becomes clear that the legacies we inherit are more than just physical traits or family stories. Whether through psychological inheritance or the complex mechanisms of generational trauma, our ancestors’ experiences shape us in profound ways. By understanding and addressing these influences, we not only gain insight into our own behaviors and emotions but also take crucial steps toward healing and breaking cycles for future generations. After all, our past doesn’t just belong to history—it lives within us, and how we choose to navigate it can make all the difference.

📸Microsoft Designer AI

Parker-Drabble, Helen. “Family Historians – Teasing out Psychological Inheritance •.” Family Historians- Teasing Out Psychological Inheritance, 2018, http://www.helenparkerdrabble.com/teasing-out-your-familys-psychological-inheritance/.

Dixson, E. (2021) Breaking the chains of generational trauma, Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-flourishing-family/202107/breaking-the-chains-generational-trauma#:~:text=Their%20emotional%20history%20begins%20even,our%20shoulders%20from%20our%20parents. (Accessed: 17 August 2024).

Lassiter, Cheryl. 27 May 2014, drarielleschwartz.com/your-family-ancestry-awareness-of-trans-generational-trauma-facilitates-resilience/.

van der Kolk, B. (2024) The body keeps the score, Bessel van der Kolk, MD. Available at: https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score (Accessed: 17 August 2024).

Valeii, K. (2024) How does intergenerational trauma work?, Verywell Health. Available at: https://www.verywellhealth.com/intergenerational-trauma-5191638#:~:text=Intergenerational%20trauma%20is%20the%20theory,gene%20functions%20(epigenetic%20change). (Accessed: 17 August 2024).

(2024) Understanding generational trauma and breaking the cycle – holly hill hospital. Available at: https://hollyhillhospital.com/blog/understanding-generational-trauma-breaking-the-cycle/ (Accessed: 18 August 2024).

How did our ancestors manage anxiety and stress?

Happy Relaxation Day! There is a day for everything these days. But today, it made me wonder if, with everything our ancestors had to go through, they were in a constant state of anxiety. Our ancestors, facing huge threats, coped by focusing on their next step to manage stress.

I often think about the anxiety and stress our ancestors faced hundreds of years ago. When I read about a 14-year-old crossing the ocean with only one bag and $5 in his pocket, I not only think about the anxiety he was experiencing but also about the worries of his loved ones back home, especially his mother. My son is in his mid-20s, and I cannot imagine him making that kind of journey.

Throughout much of human history, people have encountered immense threats. Children often engaged in dangerous manual labor, while villages faced frequent invasions and pillaging. Whether witnessing these events firsthand or hearing about them from others, the dangers were ever-present.

Imagine living in a time when calling 911 or seeking emergency medical care wasn’t an option. Our ancestors faced health challenges without the benefits of modern technology like X-rays or CAT scans to diagnose their conditions. Every pain could escalate into a life-threatening situation. Even something as simple as a toothache meant enduring the discomfort until the tooth decayed enough to fall out on its own. How did they cope with the inevitable anxiety that came with such uncertainty?

Be conscious of the fact that they had more realistic expectations. They understood that being happy every minute was not a realistic goal. They realized that others weren’t happy all the time and that they were not missing out. They also recognized that feeling fearful sometimes didn’t necessarily mean something was wrong with them.

Our ancestors actively worked on building self-soothing skills. They recognized that finding serenity wasn’t about good genes or relying on medicine. They saw it as a skill that could be learned and developed, so they dedicated time to cultivating it.

They focused on their next step. Focusing on the next step is a fundamental self-soothing strategy for our brain. Let’s take a closer look at this. Imagine you’re hungry prey. Every step involves the risk of being eaten by predators, but you must venture out to find food and avoid starvation. Therefore, focusing on the next step becomes crucial. Our ancestors weighed the sensory evidence with each step and made choices – moving toward a reward or away from a threat. Approaching a reward triggered the brain’s dopamine release while escaping a threat relieved cortisol. Then, they analyzed their next step, just like the prey who doesn’t wait for complete safety but moves forward confidently.

Before refrigerators and supermarkets, people had to work hard to prepare simple meals like bread and butter. They had to grow wheat, grind flour, heat an oven with firewood, milk a cow, and churn butter. In those times, our ancestors constantly sought food for survival.

Without birth control, there was pressure to meet the needs of many children as well as your own. Failure to find water or firewood could mean death, so people focused on their immediate needs, with dopamine as their reward.

Today, we have a lot of energy left after we eat bread and butter. Our brain has sufficient energy to continuously produce a flow of imagined threats and imagined rewards. Suppose we fill our minds with imagined threats. In that case, we flood ourselves with cortisol and deprive ourselves of dopamine. We can end up feeling bad despite the unprecedented level of safety and comfort we enjoy.

We are here because our ancestors were survivors.

As we reflect on the resilience of our ancestors, it’s clear that their ability to focus on the next step, build self-soothing skills, and embrace the reality of their circumstances were key to their survival. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we can learn from their strength and determination. By taking things one step at a time and appreciating the progress we make, we too can manage our stress and anxiety, honoring the legacy of those who came before us.

Breuning, L. G. (2024, August 15). How did our ancestors manage anxiety?. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-neurochemical-self/202103/how-did-our-ancestors-manage-anxiety