Passing trauma down through generations
More and more scientists are coming to the same conclusion: the traumas of parents impact on not
only the psychological health of their children and grandchildren, but their physical health too.
An epigenetic study conducted by Rachel Yehuda et al. on Holocaust survivors and their descendants
even found that these traumas had an influence on genetic expression, suggesting trauma is, to some
extent, "hereditary".
In her article on the transgenerational transmission of trauma an unspoken suffering (La transmission
transgénérationnelle des traumatismes et de la souffrance non dite), Florence Calicis is convinced
that the burden of unspoken trauma is nevertheless well and truly real and unconsciously felt by
children. One thing is clear – it needs to be talked about.