

Trauma in and of itself is directly related to substance use disorder (SUD). You may be wondering how and why this topic is related to addiction and recovery. How is Generational Trauma Related to Addiction? This is a cycle of abuse and is a prime example of generational trauma that is quite common today. In this case, his children may develop “anger problems” that may include yelling, throwing things, and/or hitting others. This could be a learned behavior that the current father himself now uses with his own family members. Perhaps there is a scenario in which a current father was raised by a dad who was physically abusive to him and his family members when he was a child. Have you ever heard someone say that their family has a history of anger issues? Statements like these could also be potential signs of generational trauma that are highly normalized today. Even though they may have never experienced the sexual abuse that their mother experienced, they could still develop anxiety while around men because they learned this behavior both directly and indirectly from their mother and her past traumas. If there is a situation in which a mother has a past history of enduring sexual abuse and therefore feels anxiety about being around men, her children may also develop these feelings of anxiety while being around men. For example, anxiety could be a form of generational trauma. It is so common that it almost has become unrecognizable. That being said, generational trauma impacts more people than many of us realize. This is why it is particularly difficult for people to understand how and why it can impact them in a real way.

Being born into lifestyles in which generational traumas exist makes it so that people become so used to experiencing those various forms of trauma that they consider it to be a completely normal part of life. Generational trauma never usually feels like “real” trauma because people typically are blind to it. Family history typically plays a significant role in how generational trauma is formed and then passed down. These traumas vary in severity and can manifest in many diverse ways depending on each family dynamic and structure. In other words, it can be thought of as learned behaviors, thought patterns, subtle nuances, and/or ways of being that have been passed down through generations within the same family lineage. Generational trauma is defined as trauma that gets passed down from family members while also influencing the way future generations cope with, view, and handle traumatic events.
