Presley was diagnosed with PTSD in 2010, and the idea that trauma can be passed down generations has long hit close to home. "The risk for PTSD is more nuanced than the genes you inherit from your parents." They also compared that risk with other psychiatric conditions and found, for example, a strong overlap between PTSD- and schizophrenia-associated genes. In other words, three out of 10 PTSD diagnoses among these women exposed to trauma could be linked to common genetic variants. Searching for answers on PTSDBy unraveling the link between genetics and mental illness, researchers hope to find new ways to diagnose, prevent and treat disorders like PTSD, Koenen said.

Source: CNN April 25, 2017 13:18 UTC