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by fjjjrjj 482 days ago
Generational trauma is really hard to resolve. A therapist once told me "family systems don't like change." The really old family dynamics have a way of being passed down and reinforced. We settle into roles that perpetuate them.

Interesting that there is not just social pressure but also genetic pressure that may be perpetuating the trauma.

My grandfather drove a tank through Europe for the allies during WW2 and I know that is still impacting me and my kids. He self medicated his presumed PTSD with alcohol and died young before I was born. That impacted my father and the way he related to me. And I am sure it impacts how I relate to my kids too. I don't drink anymore because that history scares me. The rise in fascist and nationalist ideologies scares me too.

If we forget history we are doomed to repeat it. Both at an individual and societal level.

2 comments

A study of people who were adopted as babies could be interesting, depending on circumstances the stress on the birth mother could be reflected in the child but the dynamics of the birth family after birth would no longer be in play. I am specifically thinking of Ireland where there are a significant number of people in their 40s up that were the result of pretty much forced adoption due to the societal stigma of getting pregnant out of wedlock which would have been very stressful as the mothers were sent to mother and baby homes once they began to show.
My grandfather also drank himself to death for similar reasons. What scares me is that as a society we forget too quickly the true cost and suffering caused by war.