What term describes the cumulative psychological wounding over generations due to massive group trauma?

The term that describes the cumulative psychological wounding over generations due to massive group trauma is "Historical trauma." This concept refers specifically to the emotional and psychological effects on communities that have experienced significant traumatic events, such as colonization, genocide, or slavery. Unlike individual trauma, which affects a single person, historical trauma impacts entire populations, resulting in ongoing psychological distress that can be passed down from one generation to the next.

Communities that experience historical trauma may show symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues not only in those who lived through the initial traumatic events but also in their descendants. Understanding historical trauma is essential for practitioners in fields such as mental health and social services, as it emphasizes the need to address the long-term, intergenerational effects of trauma in community healing and support strategies.

In contrast, individual trauma pertains to personal experiences of a single individual, societal trauma involves broader issues affecting society as a whole, and environmental trauma typically relates to damage or crises in the natural environment and their impact on human health and well-being.