This article was passed along to me by a friend who is experiencing medical PTSD, that I’m also going through. But in my childhood I experienced sexual trauma that I buried because my family, I knew already, was not loving and supportive of me. At about age 20 I decided to not have children until I could figure out how my mother (and grandmother) had raised me to be such a messed up person. Because I knew I would just replicate, without even knowing, the same parenting she had demonstrated over and over again. Reading this reminded me what a wise decision that was to make at that age. It wasn’t until age 45, on recovery of my memories, that I was able to put the pieces together. I was beyond childbearing age, and also in another breaking relationship.

I know the first commenter took you to task for the discussion of epigenetics. But I could accept some of that supposition. I’m reading “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, and why wouldn’t that apply at the cellular level? Seems possible to me. But most saving was the idea of intervention through therapy to let generations know the true family history. I’ve only been able to guess at mine but I’m certain there were patterns of abuse on my mother’s side.

Good article. I like what you write. And that we share a name!