It Didn’t Start With You: How Generational Trauma Affects Your Body and Health
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Ever wonder why your body feels tense, tired, or reactive, even when things seem fine on the surface? Or why certain health issues seem to run in your family, along with emotional patterns like anxiety, hypervigilance, or emotional disconnection?
Welcome to the world of generational trauma, a type of trauma that doesn’t just live in the past. It can live in our habits, our stress responses, and even our cells.
Let’s explore how trauma can get passed down, and how it might be affecting both your emotional and physical health today.
What Is Generational Trauma?
Generational trauma (also called intergenerational trauma) is trauma that gets passed down from one generation to the next. This can happen through stories, behaviors, beliefs, or even through biology.
It’s not just about growing up in a stressful household. It can stem from big, historical events, war, genocide, forced migration, systemic racism, poverty, or ongoing family dysfunction, and the way those experiences shape how people respond to the world.
If your parents or grandparents never had the space, support, or tools to heal from their trauma, that pain doesn’t just disappear. It gets passed on, sometimes in subtle, invisible ways.
How Trauma Travels Through Generations
Generational trauma can show up in families through:
Chronic stress, anxiety, or emotional dysregulation
Parenting styles rooted in survival, not connection
Silence or secrecy around painful past events
Hyper-independence or emotional shutdown
Distrust of systems, people, or even safety itself
And while it often starts as an emotional or relational issue, it doesn’t stay there.
The Trauma-Body Connection: Why Trauma Impacts Physical Health
Here’s the science: Trauma isn’t just a mental experience. It gets stored in the nervous system and can physically reshape the way the body functions. When a person lives in survival mode for too long, their body becomes hardwired to stay alert, even when the danger has passed.
Over time, this chronic stress can lead to:
High blood pressure
Inflammation
Chronic pain or fatigue
Autoimmune conditions
Digestive issues (hello, gut-brain connection)
Hormonal imbalances
Sleep problems
Trauma doesn’t just live in the mind, it lives in the body. And when it’s generational, your body might be carrying stress responses that were never originally yours to begin with.
What About Epigenetics?
Research in epigenetics, the study of how behaviors and environment can affect the way genes are expressed, shows that trauma can literally leave a chemical mark on a person’s DNA. These marks don’t change the genes themselves, but they influence how genes are turned “on” or “off.”
In some cases, these stress signatures can be passed down to future generations, influencing how they respond to stress, process emotions, and manage health.
So if you’ve ever thought, “Why do I feel so anxious all the time when nothing really ‘bad’ has happened to me?” the answer may go back further than you think.
Signs You May Be Carrying Generational Trauma
You have intense emotional reactions you can’t explain
You feel responsible for fixing family dysfunction
You struggle to feel safe or settled, even when things are okay
You’ve inherited cycles of abuse, addiction, silence, or shame
You feel like your body is always “on guard”
You deal with unexplained health issues or chronic stress symptoms
Breaking the Cycle: What You Can Do
The good news? You’re not doomed by your genes or your family history. Just because trauma can be passed down doesn’t mean healing can’t be, too.
Here are some powerful ways to start interrupting the cycle:
💬 Get Curious, Not Judgmental
Instead of blaming yourself or your family, start asking questions. What did my caregivers go through? What were they taught about survival? How might their pain be showing up in my life?
🧠 Work with a Therapist Who Understands Trauma
Healing generational trauma often requires unpacking big, deep-rooted patterns, and that can be hard to do alone. A trauma-informed therapist can help you recognize what’s yours… and what isn’t.
🧘 Re-Regulate Your Nervous System
You can’t think your way out of a trauma response. But you can teach your body how to feel safe again. Try:
Deep breathing
Grounding exercises
Somatic (body-based) therapy
Gentle movement (like yoga or walking)
🧬 Remember: Biology Isn’t Destiny
Even if your DNA has been affected by trauma, the science of epigenetics shows that positive experiences, healing, and connection can also leave marks on your body, and help rewrite your story.
You Are the Breaker of Chains
If you’re the one in your family trying to heal, grow, and understand these patterns, you’re doing something powerful. It’s not easy work, but it’s sacred work.
You are allowed to:
Feel overwhelmed and still keep going
Be the first one in your family to talk about emotions
Learn new ways of being that your ancestors didn’t have access to
Let your healing change the legacy you pass on
Your symptoms are not random. Your burnout, your anxiety, your chronic stress, these may be signals from your body, pointing to old wounds that were never yours to carry in the first place.
But you don’t have to carry them forever.
With awareness, compassion, and the right support, you can break the cycle. You can feel safe in your body. You can heal, not just for you, but for the generations that come after you.
Ready to explore the roots of your story—and start writing a new one?
Therapy is a place where you can untangle the past, care for your nervous system, and reclaim your health. Let’s talk.
