Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome & Intergenerational Trauma
Trauma is inherited. Dr. Joy DeGruy named it. How does it show up in our families, and how do we break the cycle?
Family, the pain did not end when slavery was legally abolished — it went underground, into our bodies, our parenting, and our nervous systems. Dr. Joy DeGruy called it Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: patterns of vigilance, self-doubt, and survival that once kept us alive but now keep us small. Recognizing this is not an excuse — it is a map. When we can name the wound, we can begin to tend it. Share here: what patterns have you noticed passing down through your family? What have you consciously decided to stop and not hand to your children? Healing begins the moment we tell the truth.
3 Voices in the Circle
DeGruy's work changed how I see my mother. Her hyper-vigilance wasn't 'being difficult' — it was survival wiring passed down. Naming it let me stop taking it personally and start having compassion.
The pattern I'm consciously stopping: never praising your kids so they 'don't get a big head.' My father never told me he was proud. I tell my son every single day. The cycle ends with me.
Vigilance around food too — my elders couldn't rest until everyone was fed twice over. Beautiful love, but rooted in scarcity. I'm learning that rest and 'enough' are not betrayals of them.