Woman explains how millennials are like 'service dogs' to boomer parents: 'Carry forth the trauma'

Every generational gap comes with some challenges. As the previous generation tries to instill their values and beliefs in the next generation, there can be cases where children might feel disconnected from their parents. If you have parents from the boomer generation or born between the 1940s and 1960s, they might have had a lot of problems trying to relate to their millennial kids and as a result, often end up treating their offspring like "service dogs." At least, that's what Tina–who goes by @crawdaddytina on TikTok–claims in her video.

Tina has some serious opinions about the barely discussed conflicts between the millennial and boomer generation. "This one is for all the young millennials," she says in the clip as she begins the video. "If you have a parent that is a boomer, I am sorry to say that you are actually functionally a 'service dog' for your parents." Tina goes on to further explain her controversial claim, which might anger a lot of people.

"You were sent to therapy so you could then go back to your parents, teach them about why they were actually sad and not angry and show them how to communicate so they can therefore atone before they pass on from this earth, so you can carry forth the trauma they instilled in you to their grandchildren," Tina quips sarcastically. The video has raked up over 502k views so far and garnered a lot of comments from millennials who could relate to Tina's words.

@waterisntsomething joked, "Nah, I'm a pet that ran away the second they left the door open." @compassionatecreative shared, "I did the millennial hack and didn't have grandchildren. Cycle broken, baby!" @meagorilla lamented, "Worse, my mom goes to therapy and weaponizes it because her therapist is a boomer too." @courtneymc1691 commented, "They won't listen. They think they never do any wrong and my therapist tells me to stop trying to get them to see my point of view because they won't." @toriatriestiktok wrote, "The biggest irony was fighting my dad for a decade to go to therapy, being his unpaid child therapist and now he wants to become a therapist."

In a similar story, Dr. Joy DeGruy has found a kind of trauma in African Americans from 12 years of quantitative and qualitative research. She developed a theory that she called "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome" and explained it extensively in her book, "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome - America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing." The book takes a holistic look at the enduring consequences of centuries of slavery and tries to initiate a conversation about how the Black community can use their adaptations to heal now. 

According to Indiana University Health, adverse childhood experience or ACE describes the abuse, trauma or neglect that creates toxic stress in a child's brain, which has been linked with physical illness and mental health conditions as an adult. A child who is abused or raised without proper care, connection and affection continues to carry on the generational trauma in their later lives as well. Ph.D. Reshawna Chapple on Talkspace also wrote about generational trauma, describing it as the kind of traumatic experience that consists of traumatic experiences or stressors that are passed from one generation to another. 

Taking steps to address your mental health is integral to taking care of yourself and working towards healing the wounds of the past. Most importantly, it is instrumental in breaking the cycle so one does not continue the pattern of passing down trauma to the next generation. With time and effort, it is possible to heal from generational trauma.