CW: This post deals with trauma and the resulting mental repercussions and includes mentions of sexual assault and the holocaust.
Ever since I was a baby, people have compared me to my parents. When I was younger, my parents would often be told I resembled my father. As I grew older, the comments changed. I was now told I look almost exactly like my mother. I got my mother’s acute sense of smell and taste. It’s easy to point out the observable traits I inherited from my mother, but I may have gotten even more than that. According to recent scientific studies, my mental health may have been affected by my mother’s trauma.
Within the past century, scientists have begun to do studies into the possibility that trauma can be inherited. People whose parents have had traumatic experiences that result in PTSD may develop PTSD symptoms themselves. Children of holocaust survivors have even been found to have nightmares that resemble their parent’s experiences.
How can something like trauma be inherited? Parent’s pass on their genetic material to their children, how can something that happens later in life such as trauma be linked to genetic code? The answer lies in the field of Epigenetics. Epigenetics studies the “stuff” on DNA other than just the genetic code itself. This “stuff” is affected by experiences and allows the effects of experiences to be passed on.
I’ve been through some heavy stuff. My parents have been through some heavy stuff. So has my grandparents. And so on. And, relatedly, my mental health is less than ideal. The idea that my own health is affected by my family’s experience has been incredibly validating and makes a lot of sense to me. Epigenetics is still a growing field and many people question it’s validity, but I am excited to see where the field is going.
Hurley, D. (2015, June 25). Grandma’s Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes. Retrieved September 25, 2016, from http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13-grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on-your-genes
Kellermann, N. P. (2013). Epigenetic transmission of holocaust trauma: can nightmares be inherited?. The Israel journal of psychiatry and related sciences, 50(1), 33.
Unruly Bodies 
Wow this is a very interesting read. I did not know that a child can be affected by their parent’s traumatic experiences. I would really like to know how something like trauma can be inherited. I think Epigenetics sounds very interesting and i too, will like to see where it is going.
This is such an interesting perspective. It is incredible that trauma can be passed down via DNA. I’d be interested in learning more about what kinds of trauma are maybe more likely to be passed along. Great read! Thanks for sharing.
Science never surprises me. It’s science! lol. I didn’t know trauma can be passed through genetics. If you can inherit personality traits through DNA , trauma can be inherited.
I love the concepts you have written about because the phrases “it’s all in your head” or “just get over it” can finally be put to rest. These phrases can finally be put to rest with science, and maybe, just maybe children of survivors can view their mental health not as something as them being lazy or weak, but as something that they inherited and can do something about, through self care and therapy.
I definitely think there is a case to be made for the generational affects of hysteria, the example you used was the holocaust, but i can also see how that would apply to slavery. Which totally makes sense! The idea that these bodies, the bodies of slaves, were doing the same backbreaking labor every day for generations I’m sure built some sort of lasting neural connections in those directly affected, & likely in their ancestors as well