Psychologist Rachel Yehuda conducted a study done on Holocaust survivors, witnesses, and their children suggested that the impacts of the Holocaust may impact people even further than simply an emotional response.
Holocaust survivors and witnesses who participated in the study helped prove the notion that trauma is capable of being passed down through generations… genetically. The study was on the genes of children of people who had been interned at concentration camps, people who witnessed or experienced torture, and those who were forced to hide from the Nazis during the war.
The study concluded that these children are much more prone to stress disorders compared to Jewish children the same age whose families were living outside of Europe during the war. This is attributed to “epigenetic inheritance”, the idea that environmental factors such as smoking, diet, and even stress can have an impact on the genes of the children and sometimes grandchildren.
Although conditions like PTSD, depression, and anxiety are common side effects of traumatic experiences, Yehuda argues that it becomes a genetic factor passed through generations, even if those experiencing high stress were not alive during the war.
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This is really interesting. I think we learned about this in psychology. Certain genes can be activated by events in one lives. Its interesting to think that these activated genes can be passed down.
ReplyDeleteA similar study has been done on children of Civil War prisoners, which were 10% more likely to die in middle age than their peers. Trauma left a chemical, epigenetic mark on an individual's genes that could be passed down to their children. Epigenetic marks have been seen on the children of Holocaust victims as well as children who were exposed in the womb to the Dutch Hunger Winter.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/health/mind-epigenetics-genes.html