Ancestral trauma, often referred to as generational or intergenerational trauma, can influence your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. Ancestral trauma suggests that the experiences of one’s ancestors can influence their descendants not only through shared narratives and learned behaviors but also at the epigenetic level. Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression or cellular traits caused by external or environmental factors.
In one research study by Dr. Rachel Yehuda, she investigated the effects of trauma on gene expression in Holocaust survivors and their offspring. She examined the epigenetic changes in genes associated with stress and the regulation of the body’s stress response. They found that Holocaust survivors and their descendants had different epigenetic patterns in specific genes compared to Jewish individuals without a family history of Holocaust exposure. These changes in gene expression showed an increased baseline reactivity to stress.