The world has been so heavy recently, across nations, areas, and racial groups—we are witnessing unimaginable levels of destruction, suffering, heartache, tragedy, loss, displacement, anguish, trauma, and a host of other unfathomable tragedies occurring in real time. A statement I came across recently in the Psychiatric Times said, “The loudest noise you hear during war is that of broken hearts”, this sums up what many of us may be going through daily, myself included, along with the communities suffering through these harrowing experiences. Current tensions and wars are heavily impacting entire societies, communities, cultures, families, and the world as a whole.
War trauma and violence generates an untold amount of psychological distress along with countless other impacts on health and well-being of individuals, especially children and youth. In brief, “war trauma” refers to any traumatic experience that occurs while preparing, living through, witnessing, or serving in a war. It is also important to note that trauma occurs when one is powerless, helpless, and unable to escape a threatening situation. There are a variety of causes of war trauma, some include: Firsthand experience of witnessing the course of a war; Being in direct combat; Witnessing people fatally wounded, disfigured, injured or genocide; Extreme deprivation of necessities such as shelter, food, water, electricity, medicine; Medical personnel unable to provide aid to large amounts of victims in need; loss of shelter, loved ones, society; Being in a constant state of danger, fear, and threat; Inability to flee or escape to safety; Unpredictability of when the conflict may cease causing feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, despair, and emotional shutdown; and so much more. Like any enduringly painful event, the effects of war trauma can vary, a person’s susceptibility to and level of damage from war trauma is also dependent on several factors. For instance, regular and repeated exposure to traumatic events can have a more intense toll on individuals, such as in cases with continuous oppression and violence over days, months, years and decades. Similarly, individuals with previous experiences of trauma have a higher likelihood of developing mental health and physical struggles.
As if going through warfare alone wasn’t enough, it can also have a long-term effect on one’s mental health. Each person experiences trauma in a different way, and it can either induce or worsen mental health issues, most notably PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). A 2019 World Health Organization report states that 22% of residents in conflict zones suffer from a mental health condition like PTSD, anxiety, or depression. This is especially damaging to the lives of children. According to a Save The Children analysis from 2023, 468 million children globally (1 in 6 children) live in a conflict zone, and 1.7 billion young individuals globally (2 out of 3) live in a nation affected by violence. New data from the children’s charity indicates that the number of children living 50 kilometers or less from one or more armed conflicts has increased by 2.8% from the previous year, as stated by the Oslo Conference on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict (455 million children in 2021 compared to 468 million in 2022).I include these statistics however, it is important not to view them as simply just numbers, these are children with thoughts, emotions, bodies, names, dreams, hopes and lives impacted.
More importantly, the nature of conflicts and wars, and how they affect children is changing in the modern world. The lines dividing the battlefield in today’s violent wars are frequently blurred, with schools, hospitals, and children’s homes serving as the front lines. Wars are much longer now and they are more likely to be fought by civilian populations in urban settings, resulting in fatalities, seriously injured individuals, and vast destruction of the infrastructure required to ensure that people have access to food, water and humanitarian aid. Children are bearing the burden of these harsh trends disproportionately. More children are experiencing unspeakable physical and psychological trauma. There are more starving children in the world. Preventable diseases are claiming the lives of more children. There are more children out of school. There is an increase in the likelihood of sexual assault, abduction, and enslavement of young individuals. Not only is the harm inflicted on children during armed conflict frequently greater than that inflicted on adults, but the effects are also more long-lasting, both for the children and for their societies. Conflict makes it difficult to find work, disrupts education, raises costs and poverty, and erodes the protective measures that should be in place to keep children safe from violence. This raises the likelihood of child marriage for girls since child marriage is sometimes considered as a method to relieve financial burdens on families or to shield children from other forms of gender-based abuse. Currently, 89.2 million adolescent girls (aged 10-17 years) live in conflict zones around the world, which is an alarming 1 in 5 teenage girls.
Displacement and seeking refuge (if possible) in nearby locations are common, forceful, and necessary during war, violence and conflict. However, refugee’s face another set of challenges when displacement occurs, some of these painful difficulties include Deprivation on both a social and economic level; Discrimination; Microaggressions; Racism; Less family cohesion; Lack of shelter; Status changes and frequently changing schools and more, these often continue for years to come. Children separated from their parents during displacement are also more likely to develop feelings of depression, grief, anxiety, suicidal ideation and substance abuse struggles. Let alone, children who have lost entire blood lines, families and all sources of protection and support. Recently, the heartbreaking term WCNSF was coined in Gaza, for wounded children with no surviving family. The psychological, social, emotional and mental impacts of such a trauma is unfathomable and heart-wrenching.
When such traumatic conflicts take place, we have seen across history and decades that a collective trauma is experienced. Collective trauma is a devastating occurrence that breaks down a society’s fundamental structure. Collective trauma is defined as psychological reactions to ongoing traumatic occurrences that affect a whole society; it does not simply represent historical events, it implies that the tragedy is represented in the collective memory of a group of individuals, a community, a culture of people.
Collective trauma damages a core sense of safety, with long-term consequences for survivors’ second and third generations as well. These individuals have significantly higher rates of psychological distress, second and third generation survivors have heightened individual and collective fear, feelings of vulnerability, and a proclivity to react with heightened attentiveness to new threats, the pain of previous generations merges with threats faced by the current generation of survivors. Collective trauma can endanger collective identity; it can raise concerns about the significance of the group and regarding belief systems. Mass traumatic events, according to researchers, can challenge basic assumptions and core beliefs about ourselves and the society in which we live. For example, the belief that we live in a fundamentally benevolent world in which we all have value and worth is rapidly shattered when individuals are subjected to violent attacks, genocide, and war, and once again, the sense of fundamental safety in the world can deteriorate. This challenges individuals and groups to reassess worldviews and encourages a search for meaning, a natural human response. However, not everyone is able to find meaning in such horrific traumatic events that continue to ensue. This can lead to huge feelings of hopelessness, loss, humiliation, guilt, confusion, depression and much more. This is often why collective trauma is often referred to as a “crisis of meaning”, and the essence of meaning is – connection.
When we think of conflict, trauma, violence, or oppression based on cultural or ethnic differences, we rarely consider the role of dignity, yet it is crucial. “Dignity” is defined as “the state of being worthy of honor and respect.” The victims in these violent circumstances are often denied dignity. We all deserve to be regarded as valuable individuals. When we are treated as if we do not belong and deserve to be excluded, a deep psychological wound is created that must be identified and repaired.
In several cases, survivors of collective trauma create meaning amidst and following tragedy in certain ways:
- By passing down from one generation to the next, cultural traditions and lessons about threat that encourage group and community preservation and protection. These traditions of threat increase existential worries and motivate individuals to embed the trauma experienced in a symbolic manner to establish meaning for them and their culture.
- The trauma experienced encourages the sense of a collective self that spreads across generations fostering a sense of meaning and reducing or buffering threats to their survival. This sense of a historic collective self promotes group unity, togetherness, and identification as well.
- The powerful sense of meaning that emerges from communal trauma preserves the trauma’s memory and the unwillingness to let go of the past. This legacy of trauma, over time, becomes the focal point of group identity and the prism through which group members view their social surroundings.
Similar to all types of memories, individuals who have experienced collective trauma not only repeat traumatic events mentally, but also continue reconstructing the trauma as an attempt to make sense of it. Collective memory of trauma differs from individual memory as it lasts beyond the lives of the direct survivors, and it is remembered by group members who may have been geographically and/or chronologically far from the traumatic events. Following generations of trauma survivors, who did not witness the actual events, may recall these events differently than the direct witnesses, and therefore the construction of these historical events continues to form from one generation to the next, leading to what we know as Generational Trauma.
The impacts of intergenerational and cross-generational trauma transmission within families over time is one of the most destructive consequences of collective and historical trauma. When a group of people are subjected to continuous systematic physical, mental, emotional, and, in certain cases, sexual abuse by a dominating group, these experiences get internalized. Inheriting collective trauma also occurs when individuals healing and restorative capacities are hindered continuously by being overwhelmed by massive threats to survival, leading to ancestors who were not able to fully process or heal from the trauma. Generational trauma can be passed down in a variety of ways, some of which include biological epigenetic transmission of trauma, long-term economic consequences of adverse experiences, and cultural transformation.
Individuals who have experienced slavery, genocide, war, terrorism, displacement, and poverty are often victims of collective and historical trauma. Natural disasters, mass shootings, pandemics, systemic and historical oppression, recessions, and starvation or severe poverty also trigger a collective trauma reaction. As reality is turned upside down, traumatic experiences like the ones outlined above can result in the commencement of physiological, psychological, relational, societal, and spiritual consequences. Although the trauma is dealt with collectively, individual experiences and responses might differ widely. Survivors of collective trauma may feel isolated, alone and disconnected from their families and communities due to high levels of distress and trouble coping. Parenting behavior is impacted due to collective trauma as well, resulting to an increase in dysfunctional households, child maltreatment, and adversity.
As a society, we must focus on eliminating the causes of trauma and alleviating the suffering of these individuals and children. The brutal cycle of war and violence ends when human rights and dignity are honored and respected.
I feel it is important to mention that collective and generational trauma survivors inherit and experience a grief and anguish unlike any other, it is layered from grandparents and parents who have lived through or fled the worst trauma’s, this grief and pain continues to live on. Even currently, when witnessing similar pain on the news or social media experienced by one’s culture, loved ones, hometown and society, this generational vulnerability is triggered easily and intensely. It is important to be mindful of this when supporting your loved ones or friends who are survivors of collective trauma and are witnessing current tragedies unfold before their eyes, there often is no right thing to say to make their pain go away, as humans often we want to problem solve when others are hurting. It is important to keep in mind that the pain they are experiencing is valid, and instead of problem-solving, the kindest, most supportive act we can do is be there, be present, acknowledge their pain and create a space of safety when others are hurting. Shared human experiences within a realm of safety, acceptance and validation often can build a layer of resilience and empowerment, this is why social support is so vital when any of us are struggling, especially those with forms of trauma. For survivors of collective trauma across the world currently struggling with world events or in general for many of us who are doing everything we can and still feeling a sense of helplessness, it is important that we also care for our mental health now more than ever. Trauma is not only what happens to you externally, but more so, what happens in you internally as a result as well. With this in mind, self-care can be an act of faith in the direction of resilience, it can pave the path for healing future generations, collective healing, and breaking harmful cycles even on an individual level can lead to ripple effects in our communities.
May we strive for justice, peace, compassion, respect and healing.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with their mental health, please reach out to us at Roots Wellness Center, we are here for you and support you.
Lots of love,
Nathasha Sharma ❤
References/ Additional sources
Hirschberger G. Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning. Front Psychol. 2018 Aug 10;9:1441. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01441. PMID: 30147669; PMCID: PMC6095989. Aydin, C. (2017).
How to Forget the Unforgettable? On Collective Trauma, Cultural Identity, and Mnemotechnologies, Identity, 17:3, 125-137, DOI: 10.1080/15283488.2017.1340160
Chang K (2017) Living with Vulnerability and Resiliency: The Psychological Experience of Collective Trauma. Acta Psychopathol. 3:53. doi: 10.4172/2469-6676.100125
The Psychosocial Impacts of War and Armed Conflict on Children (2022) Psychiatric Times. Available at: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-psychosocial-impacts-of-war-and-armed-conflict-on-children.
Erikson, K. (1976). Everything in its path. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperback
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/lifting-the-veil-trauma/202005/what-is-collective-trauma
https://www.choosingtherapy.com/collective-trauma/
https://www.nepsy.com/articles/general/understanding-collective-trauma/
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/worst-conflict-affected-countries-to-be-a-child