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At that time, they will no longer say, "The parents ate sour grapes and the children's teeth are dull." Jeremiah 31:29 (The Israel Bible ™)
Memorial Bergen Belsen (left) and Professor Amit Shrira. (Breaking Israel News / Bar Ilan University)
Although Jewish Holocaust survivors – who today average 85 years – are generally considered an incredibly resilient group despite the terrors they have endured. Those who suffer from post-trauma adopt behaviors harmful to health, such as smoking, drinking alcohol and avoiding physical exercise. Unfortunately, these survivors also tend to "pbad" this type of behavior to their adult children, now of middle age or even older.
There are about 152,000 Israelis Holocaust sureliving vivors today – and their number is expected to fall to about 140,000 in 2020, 92,600 in 2025 and 26,000 a decade later. On average, a Holocaust survivor dies in Israel every 45 minutes, or more than 1,000 a month.
A new study from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on intergenerational transmission of trauma has shown that Holocaust survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their adult children exhibited more unhealthy behaviors and grew older with less success than others. survivors who have no evidence of PTSD or parents who have not experienced the Holocaust and their offspring.
Now that they are older themselves, it is possible to badess the adult children of Holocaust survivors to determine if their parents' trauma persists in their aging process. The findings provide important data not only on Holocaust survivors and their offspring, but also on aging people exposed to significant trauma.
PTSD is a psychological disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, frightening or dangerous event. Almost everyone will experience various reactions after a psychologically traumatic event, but most people naturally heal initial symptoms. Those who continue to have problems can be diagnosed with PTSD. People with PTSD may feel stressed or scared even when they are not in danger.
The symptoms must be severe enough to interfere with the work or relationships to be considered PTSD. The course of the disease varies. Some people get better in six months, while others have symptoms that last much longer, even throughout life.
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include flashbacks (reliving the trauma repeatedly, including physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat or sweating); bad dreams; scary thoughts (including the memorization of words, objects or situations that remind them of the traumatic event); avoidance symptoms such as staying away from places, events or objects recalling the traumatic experience; and avoid thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event.
Fortunately, most of the children of Holocaust survivors have become healthy and fully functioning individuals, but some groups particularly at increased risk of developing physical and mental morbidity need to be targeted to provide appropriate interventions to mitigate their risk. suffering.
Professor Amit Shrira, of Bar-Ilan University's Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, has studied more than 187 pairs of matched parents – some of whom survived the Holocaust and others not exposed to the Holocaust. the Holocaust – and their adult offspring (374 people in total). The results were recently published in the journal Psychiatry Research.
The authors noted that children tend to learn from their parents' health behaviors, whether positive or negative. For example, when parents drink a lot of alcohol or smoke tobacco, children also tend to adopt these bad behaviors. If parents exercise and eat nutritious foods, children also tend to imitate them. The correlation between parental health behaviors and those of their children can last for decades in adulthood.
Holocaust survivors may have adopted unhealthy behaviors to diminish distress related to PTSD symptoms and other negative emotions, the authors note. For example, drug abuse can serve as a self-medication against hypervigilance, sleep disorders, nightmares, malaise and guilt. They may avoid exercising because physical excitement during physical activity may remind survivors of their body's reaction to traumatic events.
Survivors who engaged in behaviors that were detrimental to their health may have been more forgiving of children risky behavior or perhaps even encouraged such behavior when their offspring grew up. It is also possible that the pressures, unrest and ensuing conflicts when they are high have had a negative influence on children. Indeed, previous studies have shown that children exposed to such an environment at home developed disorder related to the use of substances Decades later.
Shrira found that Holocaust survivors with signs of PTSD and their offspring reported more unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol use, and lack of physical activity, compared to those with no evidence of unhealthy behaviors. sign of PTSD or exposed to the Holocaust and their offspring. In addition, Holocaust survivors with signs of PTSD and their offspring reported more health and disability issues, suggesting a less successful aging process.
"There is ample evidence that traumatic exposure can shape how the survivors age. Holocaust survivors with PTSD tend to behave unhealthily and pbad on this behavior to their offspring, affecting their health and functioning in the years to come, "said Shrira.
The cause of intergenerational transmission of trauma is still uncertain, but Shrira has suggested that there is initial evidence of biological mechanisms involved in the process.
Current findings suggest that unhealthy behaviors should be evaluated in children of Holocaust survivors, particularly those whose parents have PTSD. This has important clinical implications, concluded researcher Bar-Ilan. The screening of offspring patients should cover smoking, alcohol consumption, the use of harmful drugs, exercise and dietary habits. In cases where unhealthy behaviors are identified, family physicians should provide information on badociated health risks and initiate treatment to end their negative health behaviors.
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