The impact of intergenerational trauma
When we think about trauma, it’s easy to picture war or displacement. But sometimes the roots go even deeper. Take South Asia during British colonial rule, when millions starved in famines worsened by deliberate policy decisions. Food was exported while people went hungry. Safety, stability, and even a daily meal were not guaranteed.
For those who lived through it, the lesson was harsh: survival could never be taken for granted. That lesson didn’t vanish when the famine ended. It shaped how people raised their children, often with a deep caution, a focus on security, and an instinct to prioritise survival above all else. Later generations may have grown up far from famine, but the lessons were still in the room in how parents rationed, worried, or discouraged risk.
Sometimes we challenged this. Why can’t we relax? Why so much pressure? But this was the why. The inheritance of instability shaped behaviour, even when unspoken. And because we were raised with it, it shows up in us too. This is one way trauma travels across generations.
Everyday life looks ordinary from the outside looking in: school, friends, work, hobbies. However, beneath all that are many hidden roles: translating letters and statements, navigating bureaucratic systems and processes, explaining technology updates and so on. These experiences help to bridge cultures, but are part of a wider matter that passes down emotional weight of trauma that presses a focus on survival for example. These impacts can be felt across a few areas:
1. Emotions
Pressure to succeed and prove sacrifice was worth it.
Anxiety about stability, even in seemingly safe environments
Guilt when expectations aren’t met, and subsequent coping mechanisms
2. Identity
Caught between two worlds, the interactions between home and outside culture can lead to belong struggles with never feeling fully ‘enough’ of either
Role confusion from stepping into adult responsibilities too early
Silence for self-preservation, not asking questions or sharing struggles and defaulting with going with the flow
3. Body & stress response
Hypervigilance, always being alert and feeling like a break is undeserved
Sleep difficulties and somatic symptoms, including headaches and stomach tension
Heightened reactivity, responding strongly towards minor stressors
The knock-on effect is clear: these patterns strongly shape how later generations approach personal and professional relationships. Trust can be harder to give, risk-taking feels dangerous, and responsibility is often taken on too heavily. However, once we recognise these patterns, we can decide what to carry forward and what to put down.
Speaking of patterns, have you seen K-Pop Demon Hunters? Besides pulling on mythological and folklore roots for storytelling, it very well illustrates the choices in front of us when it comes to intergenerational trauma. A girl group lives two lives, idols in public, demon hunters in private, and they inherit a battle that began before them. The leader carries these patterns, shame that weighs her down that she holds silently as she moves between these two worlds. For many children of migrants, the inheritance of trauma feels similar in that it’s unseen by outsiders but very real.
What patterns have you noticed in your own life? Do they include pressure, caution, silence or over-responsibility? Recognising them is the first step you can take, and we will explore how we can change emotional inheritance from a burden into a source of resilience and growth.