What is intergenerational trauma?
Do you believe in intergenerational trauma? Do you think you suffer from it??
- Thread starter geechiedan
- Start date
I think there are fears that can't be explained that can be passed down. Like I have this crippling fear of no longer laying the pipe to all my friends moms. Come to find out I have a great grandfather who was abandoned by his mother. So more than likely that is where that stems from!
Yes and yes.
I don't have to believe in it. I have witnessed it and experienced it. I sent the video below to my mother and after we laughed. She said that's the type treatment that was all too common.
YES and yes.
Even if you aren't exposed to nigga shit in your household, nigga shit awaits you when you leave your house which leads to trauma.
I think the thing thats not explained or illustrated real well about intergeneration trauma is the affects of actual trauma being perpetrated on the initial person who then transfers that pain to the people around them particularly offspring whove been conditioned to see things in that light.
One of the biggest reasons I hated Django Unchained and lost respect for Tarantino was how he portrayed the hardships that the black characters had to deal with....
Before I saw the film I read a review and the writer said he was impressed with how tarantino portrayed a PTSD moment in the movie. I was like wow, okay QT had dug deep here..no one has shown the effects of PTSD in a film that involves slavery but it would stand to reason that it would not only happen but be common place considering what the slaves had been thru. So I see the film and it does show a PTSD moment...happening to SCHULTZ. The one good white man who's never had to deal with hard ship like that sees ONE horrible incident and has twitchy flashbacks...meanwhile Broomhilda was in a hotbox for 3 DAYS and how do we see how she deals with it?? Oh..we DON'T.
Now take that one step further...Broomhilda whose been beaten, tortured and mentally/psychologically/very possibly sexually abused most of her young life...now has children...
HOW DO YOU THINK SHE'S GOING TO RAISE THEM??
WHAT ARE THOSE KIDS GOING TO WITNESS IN THEIR MOTHER'S BEHAVIOR that they have to deal with and live with??
I don't know how bad bad got with your peoples in Nigeria but lets say for example your parents know what abject poverty* feels like
So YOU witnessed the PSTD of the trauma they experienced in dealing with that. YOU picked up on how THEY FEEL about being in a position of powerlessness and it shaped how YOU feel about the possibility of losing everything even if the likelihood of that happening isn't real. Thats not even counting their treatment of you (the physical but most important the MENTAL) in trying to prepare you for how cold the world can be.
And its to the point where your uneasy about the possibility of "it all going away" or someone taking it from you...again, even if that's not likely to happen at least in the way or degree that it happened to them.
That, I think, is that what intergenerational trauma is.
*So what is abject poverty? To fully understand this term, it is best to define the word 'abject' first. Abject is the lowest extreme imaginable and is associated with misery and humiliation. Therefore, abject poverty is the lowest, most hopeless form of poverty that exists. This often means looking for food in less than desirable conditions such as in garbage cans or sleeping on park benches or in cardboard boxes. Those in abject poverty often lack access to things that many of us take for granted, such as schools, electricity, and clean water.
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how do you know?
Yes, I do believe in it.
No, I do not suffer from it.
My father wasn't a good one at all. I told myself that if I ever have kids, I won't treat them like I was treated.
Also, my Grandfather and my Father were alcoholics. I told myself that I'd never be an alcoholic. I drink a little bit, but not much. Whenever I go somewhere, I'm always the designated driver.
No, I do not suffer from it.
My father wasn't a good one at all. I told myself that if I ever have kids, I won't treat them like I was treated.
Also, my Grandfather and my Father were alcoholics. I told myself that I'd never be an alcoholic. I drink a little bit, but not much. Whenever I go somewhere, I'm always the designated driver.
so you were affected by their issues.
Cuz now I'm better than blessed.
I grew up extremely poor.
But I don't reflect on the past and the shoulda woulda couldas. Why couldn't my mom do this and why couldn't my dad do that?
I just focus on the present and forge my own path and leave something greater for the legacy that follows me.
That's not suffering.....that's enlightenment.
Oh yes, I was definitely affected by their issues. But, I wasn't going to let that bullshit affect my children.
I look at all of that negative stuff as generational curses. I refuse to knowingly pass down a curse. My family's curses end with me... that is if I can help it.
I dont think people who suffered trauma in their lives are pulling shoulda woulda couldas
Generational trauma is real and expresses itself primarily in your world view.
Everything from our Diet, Health, Education, Relationships is shaped 95% by what we were told to believe.
Even of us who don't think we have any generational trauma don't question why we are eating that Mcmuffin in the morning. Or why we take pills for pain. Or why we think we should have just multiple women lol (i'm keeping that one though)
Everything from our Diet, Health, Education, Relationships is shaped 95% by what we were told to believe.
Even of us who don't think we have any generational trauma don't question why we are eating that Mcmuffin in the morning. Or why we take pills for pain. Or why we think we should have just multiple women lol (i'm keeping that one though)
The trauma and horror for me is fellow Africans selling you off to the white man for some guns and other nonsense, more than what white people did to me here.
When I encounter black trash at Costco or the grocery chasing me around, I just get more worked up.
When I encounter black trash at Costco or the grocery chasing me around, I just get more worked up.
One thing I noticed about the flip side of generational trauma is the previous more traumatized generation always thinks the current generation is "soft" because they didn't have a parent that beat them daily or their level of poverty is less. We have to stop calling the younger generation soft just because they are less traumatized.
And the sadder thing is you WANT your children to have it easier than you did! But then get mad when they don't have the grit that you had. I have to catch myself sometimes as I created this easier life for my kids, but notice traits that they "should" have grown out of.