Intergenerational trauma
A war is not all bullets, bombings, and debris. A war does not only have geographical, political, social, and economic effects. In the long term, the biggest destruction it causes is the fragmentation of mental health among those who experience it immediately and for a prolonged period, as well as the mental imprint it can leave and sustain in later generations.
By Mag. Patricia-Stefanie Schoenweitz, Psychologist-Psychotherapist, trained in EMDR
People exposed to an extreme traumatic event, such as a war or the recent pandemic with lockdowns, have a particularly increased chance of experiencing psychological trauma and mental disorders through a wide spectrum of symptoms such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, survival regrets, social withdrawal, low self-esteem, anger, violence, difficulty in emotional regulation, sleep, and interpersonal relationship disorders, substance abuse, etc.
Many times, the person feels trapped, scared, alone, and mostly helpless. Its psycho-emotional charge is so overwhelming that withdrawal seems like the easiest solution. But is it also the most liberating and mentally saving for him? Unfortunately, no. The scientific community now knows that exposure to such extreme conditions can, in many cases, transform into a hard and painful legacy, which will be passed on to the descendants of those exposed to the trauma, remaining “alive” and finding a way to manifest uninvited and autonomously.
Intergenerational trauma can begin with a traumatic event affecting one individual, traumatic events affecting multiple members of a family, or collective trauma affecting larger communities, cultural, racial, ethnic, or other groups or populations (historical trauma).
The term refers to the transference of the mental imprint from one generation to another, or even across multiple generations without any objective risk; to the various expressions of a symptom (epigenetic, emotional, or social); and to the ongoing occurrence of symptoms until the cycle breaks. In recent Greek history, a characteristic example is the psychological effects of the refugees and descendants of the Asia Minor Disaster, which concern a large portion of today’s society.
A 1988 study first identified transgenerational trauma in the children of Holocaust survivors, revealing a 300% increase in psychiatric referrals.
The psychotherapeutic approach of trauma therapy and psychotraumatology, which emerged as a result of mass traumatic events of the previous century such as the two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the Vietnam War, as well as large natural disasters and pandemics, is a powerful weapon in the treatment of intergenerational trauma.
According to studies, Francine Shapiro, the originator of the EMDR method (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), founded a pioneering psychotherapy method in 1987 that aimed to process past stressful or traumatic events. The patient experiences these changes through bifocal (bilateral) visual or tactile stimuli, which strengthen associative processes and lead to changes at the level of cognitive, emotional, neurophysiological, and physical sensations.
Patricia-Stefanie Schönweitz, born in Vienna to an Austrian father and a Greek mother, is a psychologist and psychotherapist trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and EMDR by the Trauma Therapy Institute and Domna Ventouratou. Since 2008, she has been working in the humanitarian sector, specifically in supporting children and vulnerable individuals with an International Child Protection Organization. Since 2019, she has been the General Secretary of the Board of Directors of EMDR-Hellas, the official Trauma Therapy Institute in Greece. Her educational background includes studies in Greece (National and Kapodistrian University), the United Kingdom (University of Wales and University of Derby), the USA (Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Penn University), as well as Austria (Sigmund Freud University). More information is available at www.psyche-therapy.com or by phone at 6949472524.
