Zelda Fitzgerald’s legacy is as clear as the gin she drank. Sadly, her legacy is not uniquely hers but common to every generation and every family whose offspring are exposed to exogenous toxins while in the womb. Margretta Lanahan’s legacy is equally universal and applies to all the children who have suffered traumatic psychological injury as the result of wars, the removal of the primary caregiver, or neglect. Society bears the burden for all the injuries inflicted upon the body and mind.
The behaviors and adaptive strategies for navigating life begin imprinting shortly after conception and continue through parturition into adolescence. The old paradigm of Nature vs. Nurture is replaced with a new model of ‘neuroplasticity’ and ‘affect regulation.’ In this essay I will examine: 1) The teratogenic effects of Zelda’s drinking, and the resulting ethanol and nicotine exposure on my mother as she developed in the womb. The offspring of substance-abusing mothers face a wide variety of psychological and physiological symptoms that last a lifetime. Additionally, the role modeling provided by an actively alcoholic parent(s) has a profound effect upon the developing child. 2) I will further examine the traumatic effects of early childhood psychological injury to my father, Samuel Jackson Lanahan. We shall see how the mind and body respond to emotional stress and its impact on the developing child. The unique neurochemical constellations of hormones that describe the response to these prolonged periods of stress, form part of implicit memory, and unconsciously shape the child’s personality, world view and future relationships. This basic imprint of adult behavior is directly affected by the maternal history of substance abuse and/or trauma early in life. The template for understanding can be applied to me, to everyone, every family, in every culture and throughout our evolutionary history.
Files coming soon.
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