I've noticed this topic getting more attention in the therapeutic community lately. While I can relate to the categories of neglect, emotional abuse, and perpetrator mental illness as describing the actions of my own parents. Seeing those causes in a vacuum caused my to view my parents with contempt and hatred to the point of estrangement for a couple decades. It was a level of hate that had to have taken a toll on my physical health.
Once I became "trauma informed", I did a deep dive into my family history, as well as learning all I could about DTD (developmental trauma disorder). Turns out my great grandmother emigrated to this country from Russia where her family was subject to sadistic pogroms which must have traumatized her. I don't know what my great grandmother's relationship with my grandmother was like, but I know my grandmother appeared to be extremely narcissistic and hysterical, and my mother was completely shut down emotionally. My mother told me she spent something like 4 years on a psychoanalyst's couch in the early 60s, and she still has severe anxiety. I have no doubt that my mother was traumatized by my grandmother.
From what I understand about early childhood development, our brains are still developing after birth- especially in regard to programming the brain's social structures and developing emotional/autonomic regulation. The difference between autism and cPTSD is that autistic kids have a "hardware" problem (malformed or missing social neurons) and cPTSD is a "software" problem where the neurons are there but programmed incorrectly. For normal social development to take place the mother must be attuned to her child. The child cries to indicate it's hungry, tired, itchy from poop, or scared, and the mother soothes her child and meets its needs. This is how secure attachment and self-esteem develop. From a position of secure attachment, a child eventually begins to explore farther and farther on her own. When the child is old enough, the mother takes the child to the playground sandbox to play with the other toddlers. She teaches the child how to share and how to recognize the emotions of other children.
But a traumatized mother has problems performing these basic caregiver activities resulting in DTD and later, cPTSD in the child. A child cries, and the traumatized mother recoils. I can now see how this dynamic has played out in my maternal ancestry going back 4 generations. It has allowed me to replace my toxic, parental hatred with grace and love and ultimately, I believe, is helping me to find healing. I've even been able to grieve for my mother. Had I not found this knowledge, I'd still be telling others that my parents were two of the most narcissistic assh*les on earth.
The posts I've read here on OOTS make me suspect that trans-generational trauma is major contributing factor to many here with cPTSD as the descriptions of parents who were "narcissistic", addicted, or victims of mental illness themselves are plenty. But those things don't just happen in a vacuum. Trauma is usually a contributing factor. I'd imagine that it's exceedingly rare to find the truly evil parent that hates and abuses their child for no reason other than entertainment.
I believe the trans-generational trauma in my family has been passed down via entirely environmental factors, but there are researchers such as Rachel Yehuda who believe epigenetics (gene expression) plays a factor based on some small studies of children of holocaust survivors. Regardless of specifics though, I think trans-generational trauma causing cPTSD is a topic worthy of more discussion on OOTS. WDYT?
Once I became "trauma informed", I did a deep dive into my family history, as well as learning all I could about DTD (developmental trauma disorder). Turns out my great grandmother emigrated to this country from Russia where her family was subject to sadistic pogroms which must have traumatized her. I don't know what my great grandmother's relationship with my grandmother was like, but I know my grandmother appeared to be extremely narcissistic and hysterical, and my mother was completely shut down emotionally. My mother told me she spent something like 4 years on a psychoanalyst's couch in the early 60s, and she still has severe anxiety. I have no doubt that my mother was traumatized by my grandmother.
From what I understand about early childhood development, our brains are still developing after birth- especially in regard to programming the brain's social structures and developing emotional/autonomic regulation. The difference between autism and cPTSD is that autistic kids have a "hardware" problem (malformed or missing social neurons) and cPTSD is a "software" problem where the neurons are there but programmed incorrectly. For normal social development to take place the mother must be attuned to her child. The child cries to indicate it's hungry, tired, itchy from poop, or scared, and the mother soothes her child and meets its needs. This is how secure attachment and self-esteem develop. From a position of secure attachment, a child eventually begins to explore farther and farther on her own. When the child is old enough, the mother takes the child to the playground sandbox to play with the other toddlers. She teaches the child how to share and how to recognize the emotions of other children.
But a traumatized mother has problems performing these basic caregiver activities resulting in DTD and later, cPTSD in the child. A child cries, and the traumatized mother recoils. I can now see how this dynamic has played out in my maternal ancestry going back 4 generations. It has allowed me to replace my toxic, parental hatred with grace and love and ultimately, I believe, is helping me to find healing. I've even been able to grieve for my mother. Had I not found this knowledge, I'd still be telling others that my parents were two of the most narcissistic assh*les on earth.
The posts I've read here on OOTS make me suspect that trans-generational trauma is major contributing factor to many here with cPTSD as the descriptions of parents who were "narcissistic", addicted, or victims of mental illness themselves are plenty. But those things don't just happen in a vacuum. Trauma is usually a contributing factor. I'd imagine that it's exceedingly rare to find the truly evil parent that hates and abuses their child for no reason other than entertainment.
I believe the trans-generational trauma in my family has been passed down via entirely environmental factors, but there are researchers such as Rachel Yehuda who believe epigenetics (gene expression) plays a factor based on some small studies of children of holocaust survivors. Regardless of specifics though, I think trans-generational trauma causing cPTSD is a topic worthy of more discussion on OOTS. WDYT?