What Is Intergenerational Trauma and How To Stop It From Worsening PMDD

The Inheritance We Don’t Talk About

When most women think of inheritance, we picture jewellery, heirlooms, or perhaps family recipes. But many of us carry something far less visible, and often far heavier: the unprocessed pain, fears, and survival patterns of our families.

This is called intergenerational trauma, and if you live with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), you may feel its weight more than most. PMDD already heightens emotional and physical sensitivity in the premenstrual phase — and when inherited trauma is layered on top, the monthly experience can feel overwhelming.

What Is Intergenerational Trauma?

Intergenerational trauma happens when unresolved pain or trauma from one generation is passed down to the next. It might come from war, abuse, poverty, or grief that was never spoken about. Sometimes we don’t even know the original story, yet we feel the echo of it in our bodies and minds.

Science is beginning to explain why. Research in epigenetics shows that trauma can alter how genes are expressed, leaving “markers” that affect how our nervous systems respond to stress. In other words, the survival responses of a grandmother who lived through famine or violence can be passed on to her children and grandchildren — even if they never faced those same hardships.

How Trauma Gets Passed Down in Families

Alongside biology, trauma also travels through family dynamics. The first seven years of life — the imprinting phase — are a time when children absorb everything around them. Their brains are in highly receptive states, almost like a constant daydream. During this time, we take in not just what’s said, but also what’s unspoken: the atmosphere of the home, the tension in our parents’ voices, the ways they cope with stress.

Here are some patterns I often see in women with PMDD:

• Growing up in a household where money was scarce can create a deep fear of not having enough. As adults, this may show up as anxiety and panic in the premenstrual phase when the nervous system is already heightened.

• Growing up around conflict might teach a girl to silence her feelings to keep the peace. Later, when hormones shift each month, those suppressed emotions can resurface as explosive anger or sudden withdrawal.

• Families touched by unspoken grief — such as the loss of a child or relative — may unknowingly pass down that grief. A woman may find herself overcome with sadness before her period, without understanding why.

Sometimes these patterns are reinforced not only by family dynamics, but by something deeper. Rupert Sheldrake’s idea of morphic resonance suggests that memories and behaviours can ripple across generations through an invisible energetic field. It can feel as though we’re tuned into an ancestral frequency, replaying stories that began long before we were born.

These patterns often live in the subconscious mind. What looks like “just who I am” — being anxious, overly accommodating, fearful, or reactive — may actually be a survival programme learned or inherited. In PMDD, these patterns often get switched on like a light in the luteal phase, making emotions and physical symptoms feel more intense.

How Intergenerational Trauma Can Worsen PMDD

Living with PMDD already means navigating intense emotional and physical shifts each cycle. When unresolved trauma is layered on top, symptoms can deepen:

• Anxiety and panic that arrive suddenly in the premenstrual phase, often linked to old survival responses.

• Depression or emotional heaviness that feels bigger than the current moment, sometimes echoing grief carried from earlier generations.

• Chronic stress and burnout, as the nervous system struggles to come back to calm.

• Digestive flares like bloating or IBS, which are worsened by stress.

• Hormonal imbalance, since a dysregulated nervous system disrupts the HPA axis and reproductive hormones.

• Relationship struggles, where inherited patterns of conflict or silence resurface under premenstrual sensitivity.
  

When women say, “I feel like a different person every month,” it isn’t simply about hormones. It’s often the body replaying both personal and inherited trauma through the nervous system.

Supporting Your Nervous System in PMDD Recovery

The nervous system is at the heart of PMDD. When it is regulated, the body feels safe enough to rest, repair, and balance hormones. When it’s stuck in fight, flight, or freeze, symptoms become louder.

Here are some practices I recommend to clients that can help calm and regulate the nervous system:

• Kundalini Yoga: Through breathwork, movement, and sound, this practice strengthens the nervous system and releases stress. Even a few minutes of “breath of fire” or gentle spinal stretches can bring clarity and steadiness during the luteal phase.

• Yoga Nidra: Also known as yogic sleep, this deeply restful practice guides the body into a state between waking and sleeping. It can reduce premenstrual insomnia, ease anxiety, and help the body access its natural healing state.

• Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®): These gentle exercises activate the body’s natural tremor reflex, helping to discharge stored muscular tension and trauma. Many women find it especially helpful for releasing the physical stress that builds before their period.
  

These practices aren’t about suppressing symptoms — they’re about teaching the body how to feel safe again, which creates the foundation for both emotional resilience and physical healing.

Healing the Roots With Family Constellations and Rapid Core Healing

While nervous system practices are deeply supportive, many PMDD patterns are rooted in the subconscious and in family history. That’s why healing often requires going deeper.

• Family Constellations
  This powerful approach explores hidden family dynamics and ancestral trauma that may be silently influencing your cycle today. Many women discover that their monthly intensity isn’t only about hormones, but also about carrying unresolved grief, fear, or survival patterns from their family line. Constellations bring these dynamics into the light, allowing them to shift and release.

• Rapid Core Healing (RCH)
  RCH works directly with the subconscious, combining hypnotherapy, NLP, Gestalt Therapy, cognitive behavioural techniques, and systemic work . It offers a safe and effective way to reprocess trauma at its root, gently release old imprints, and rewire the nervous system. For PMDD, this means transforming the underlying emotional drivers that amplify premenstrual symptoms.
  

Together, these approaches help women move beyond temporary coping strategies and create lasting change. They work on both levels: raising conscious awareness of patterns, and healing the subconscious programming that fuels PMDD.

Healing for Yourself and Future Generations

Living with PMDD can feel like a cycle of emotional and physical survival, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. By addressing intergenerational trauma and supporting nervous system regulation, it’s possible to heal at the root — not just manage symptoms.

When we do this healing work, we’re not only freeing ourselves, but also shifting what we pass on to future generations. Just as trauma can be inherited, so can healing.

Through Family Constellations, Rapid Core Healing, and supportive practices like Kundalini Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and TRE®, I help women with PMDD find freedom from inherited pain, calm their nervous systems, and create a new, more balanced way of living.

By healing what we’ve carried from our families, we allow light, peace, and wholeness to flow not only into our own lives, but into the lives of those who come after us.

About Camilla Brinkworth

Camilla Brinkworth is a naturopath, clinical nutritionist, and trauma-informed practitioner specialising in plant-based health, gut restoration, and emotional well-being. With a focus on conditions like SIBO, IBS, and PMDD, Camilla helps clients uncover root causes and create practical, personalised strategies for lasting digestive and hormonal balance.  She works globally online so that you can receive the support you need from the comfort of your own home.

Learn more about Camilla’s naturopathy consultations and gut health programmes at www.camillaclare.com.