NEW YORK—Recent research found that trauma can alter the way genes function and children can inherit the changes. People are not only products of their environments. Humans might, biologically, be products of their parents’ environments as well.
A team of researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York studied Holocaust survivors and their children who were born after the second world war. The study, which was released in August, found that Holocaust survivors and their children both had lower cortisol levels than Jewish families who had lived outside of Europe during the war.
Cortisol is a hormone that helps humans cope with stress. Low cortisol levels can cause depression, emotional hypersensitivity, and social anxiety.
Rachel Yehuda, the report’s head researcher, found similar results when she previously studied the offspring of combat veterans and 9/11 survivors.
Her study doesn’t imply that all offspring of trauma survivors will experience intergenerational trauma, but it offers new insights into the human condition.
Intergenerational trauma is not only passed on through sociocultural environments, but also through DNA. What is the biological footprint of a Jewish mother who lost all her children during the Holocaust, but goes on to have more in Brooklyn? How does the experience of an Armenian sex slave impact the DNA expressions of her progeny? What about the offspring of a Vietnamese woman deformed by Agent Orange; or the child of an Argentinian who gave birth in prison during the Dirty War?
Epoch Times interviewed these descendants. Many said they found solace in the study and hoped the scientific evidence that intergenerational trauma can be biologically transmitted will lead to more access to treatment.
Legitimizing Emotions and Seeking Help
Dalena Hoang, a 21-year-old Vietnamese American with a pierced nose and a loose bun, said she experiences symptoms of intergenerational trauma.
“I have a lot of negative thoughts and anger,” said Hoang, who was born and raised in the Bronx.
Hoang’s mother was deformed by Agent Orange and her father was a soldier in the South Vietnamese army who fought the Khmer Rouge.
She said her mother was a distant woman who would often stare into space with a worried expression while her father rarely stayed at home.
“He could never sit still,” Hoang said. “I think he’s still at war in his head.”
Hoang said learning about the biological aspect of trauma transmission has helped legitimize her feelings.
Those who experience intergenerational trauma often feel that their pain is not worthy of acknowledgment.
Nadine Murshid, a University of Buffalo assistant professor who studies genocides and trauma, worries that most people who suffer from intergenerational trauma do not seek help.
“Their secondary trauma is often perceived to be less severe than first-hand traumatic experiences,” Murshid said. “The new research … is very exciting for the field and has tremendous implications for mental health care.”
Intergenerational trauma is an ongoing issue that Mekong, a nonprofit that advocates for Southeast Asians in New York City, faces in its community.
Mekong’s office is located in the Bronx, where 10,000 Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees reside.
An estimated half a million to three million Cambodians lost their lives during the Cambodian Genocide, and mass killings occurred throughout Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Many of the South Asian refugees living in the Bronx express symptoms of PTSD, as do their children.
“Intergenerational trauma is what guided us from the beginning,” said Chhaya Chhoum, Mekong’s executive director.
