TRIGGER WARNING: This article discusses the concept of trauma.
DISCLAIMER: This article discusses parental roles and early development. This article is purely informational and written with Islamic teachings of parental esteem in mind. Parental relationships are not a monolith, and Islamic traditions of reverence towards parents go hand in hand with the acknowledgment of parental and early development influence on an individual’s long-term psychology and biology.
In discussions on mental health, especially in immigrant communities, a certain phrase has grown in recognition and understanding among American Muslims: intergenerational trauma, or trauma that is passed down across generations. Whether you’re wondering if you’ve experienced intergenerational trauma or you’re worried about passing on the mental burden yourself, it’s essential to understand what trauma is and how it can impact a person’s everyday life. In this written adaptation of Dr. Hanan Hashem’s talk Unpacking Intergenerational Trauma, we’ll be defining trauma and explaining three ways in which it can be passed down across generations.
What is Trauma?
Today, phrases like “I’m traumatized” and “I have PTSD” are heavily entwined with the lingo of our daily lives. For this reason, the terms have become diluted and are often inaccurately used. It’s therefore essential to first return to the definition of trauma: a mental and physical response to a distressing event. Something is “traumatic” when your body and your mind are unable to determine if you are safe after that situation is over.
Imagine, for instance, that you just heard a loud bang outside your window. Naturally, your nervous system is going to respond in alarm at the sudden noise –a jump, quickness of breath, and a raised heartbeat, for example. Shortly after, you get a text from your neighbor, apologizing and explaining that he’s beginning some construction work and dropped a piece of heavy machinery. At the rational explanation, most of us will fall back into safety. Our heart rates will slow down, our breathing will level, and our nervous systems will return to their equilibrium after a few seconds. Some of us, however, will be stuck in that state of fight or flight, fear, and overwhelming tension. For those people, the lingering response is trauma.
How Can Trauma Become Intergenerational?
1. Early Learning & Development
As is displayed by the example above, the same event may cause a trauma response for one person, but not for another. This is true even if both people experience the event firsthand. This is because reactions to stressful stimuli can be learned. What does this mean?
Whether or not we pick up trauma often depends on how we have learned to deal with stress, especially from our early caregivers. While stress is a very normal aspect of life to some degree, we often learn to respond to overwhelming stress by watching those around us. When our caregiver has trauma and we are a witness to their intense reactions to stimulating events, our stress responses will tend to mimic theirs. This is one way the effects of trauma responses are learned, or passed on, from generation to generation, partially creating what we know to be “intergenerational trauma.”
2. Epigenetics
Thanks to trauma research in contemporary mental health science, it is more clear than ever that the physical self and the biological self are inextricably intertwined. Biology has measurable effects on psychology, and trauma is no exception. Firstly, trauma can be passed down genetically. Even if a child with biological parents who have trauma is not raised by those parents, that child is genetically predisposed to the side effects of trauma, which include poor physical and/or mental health outcomes. The environments in which we grow up are also a determining factor for what parts of our genes are expressed, including the side effects of the trauma in our DNA. This is where the early years of childhood can also play a role, as discussed earlier. Importantly, stress is a powerful catalyst in the expression of those genes.
3. Cultural Socialization
Another way that trauma is passed down through generations is cultural socialization: the process by which children learn about their culture and their place in it. As worldviews and cultures are passed down from parent to child, traumas that come with that worldview and culture are passed on as well. Take, for example, socialization by gender roles, such as the messages that men should not express their emotions or that women are overly emotional. These messages are commonly received at an early age and throughout our lives. Further, depending on your cultural background, geographical location, and the environment where you were raised, the messaging you received– the way you were socialized– can be different. This messaging is passed down generationally and becomes internalized into a person’s self-image.
Similarly, story-telling plays an important role in cultural socialization and trauma. Oftentimes, traumatic stories of survival are passed down and explained with no resolution. The lack of resolution to these stories can paint a picture of continuous traumatic experiences, emphazising a specific trauma response to the listener, or turn on their flight, fight, or freeze response – especially if the listener is related to or connected to the storyteller.
In Closing
“Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving”
[Al-Mulk, ayah 2]
Although discussions of trauma, especially intergenerational trauma, can be unpleasant, navigating a pathway to healing begins with understanding what trauma is and how it is passed down from generation to generation. It’s also essential to note that pathways to healing do exist and that healing is possible. If you believe intergenerational trauma exists within your family, know that by reading this article, you are already well on your way to breaking the cycle. You can continue to learn more about pathways to healing from intergenerational trauma. For more information on intergenerational trauma for you and your family, read our article on Generational trauma in Encanto in our Meaning Through Movies series.
This article was written by Hana Mahyoub, edited by Issra Killawi and Huda Khwaja, and reviewed by Dr. Hanan Hashem. An adaptation of Dr. Hanan Hashem’s talk “Unpacking Intergenerational Trauma” at the 2023 MAS/ICNA Convention.
