Intergenerational trauma alcoholism professional#

I’ve been very open about my history and the path I’ve taken to overcome it. Share your story to help others who may still suffer in silence if it weren’t for your willingness to be vulnerable. Learn from and embrace the past but also adopt new thinking and behaviors that support healing and recovery.

Intergenerational trauma alcoholism professional#

Sometimes help comes from outside of our biological family - from treatment, professional counseling or talking to others for support. Healing and recovery don’t take place in a vacuum. And, while we certainly are not responsible for poor parenting or the unhealthy living environments we grew up in, we are responsible for acknowledging the truth when we are made aware. Acknowledge the impact it has on your life.Īs children, we may not have recognized that the behaviors we saw modeled by influential adults in our lives were wrong, but we do now. But there are things you can do to break the cycle.ġ. They’re all connected, and as a result, our kids are stuck, unable to move forward because of the weight of the generational trauma that’s holding them back. These aren’t singular, standalone problems. We undermined our own recovery - and that stigma continues today. When I was a child, our church provided a ministry for those struggling with drugs and alcohol, but no one dared take part because it was considered embarrassing and demeaning. The problem isn’t only about financial barriers, but also the emotional, social and cultural ones that we as Black and brown people have erected ourselves. And while that may be partly true, I believe a lot of the issues stem from the failure of our own communities to stand up for our children and show them a better way of life. Many people insist that the trauma, addiction, crime and overall struggle within minority communities is caused by a system that’s rigged against us. And of those, 41% experienced more than one. The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) study found that two-thirds of adults had experienced at least one form of abuse, neglect or household dysfunction during their formative years. If you’ve experienced generational trauma like I did, you must know that you’re not alone in fact, it’s quite prevalent. It wasn’t until later in life that I realized I was experiencing generational trauma - also known as intergenerational trauma or transgenerational trauma - where the trauma is passed down by family members from one generation to the next. I, too, developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and began using it to cope with my unfortunate circumstances and to numb the feelings from my abuse and trauma. When you’re surrounded by these circumstances (the families around us had very similar situations) it’s hard to admit there is a problem and that you need help. It wasn’t until I was much older that I learned he was also sexually assaulted as a child.

When we were pre-teens, my sister and I were both sexually assaulted by a family member, who we later learned had a long criminal history and an even longer history of abuse. It wasn’t an easy life, but there was no addiction, abuse and incarceration. She was determined to show us there was a different kind of life. My mother ultimately left him and moved us in with my grandmother. My father was a Vietnam vet who suffered from PTSD and schizophrenia, and much like my mother’s father before him, he was absent, drunk and abusive.

If I told anyone, everyone in my family might end up going to jail. And while I knew this was all very wrong, as a child, I felt bound by these secrets. I remember as a 6-year-old watching her get high while my dad went to work. It was clear throughout my childhood that my mother struggled with alcoholism and drug use, including the use of valium, marijuana and heroin. Alcohol was ingrained in our family culture I even routinely mixed a hot toddy with whisky when I was sick.

By age 14, I was drinking them with her, or sipping moonshine at the table with my grandfather. Opinions are the writer’s own and not those of Blavity's.Īs a child growing up in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Dallas, I had what I thought was a relatively normal childhood.īefore I was even a teenager, I was mixing margaritas for my mother. If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.