When soldiers came back from World War One experiencing severe anxiety, horrible flashbacks, insomnia, and nightmares, they were described as having ‘shell shock’. We now know that they were living with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which is a disease that may occur after traumatic experiences, like being in a car accident or in a war zone, most strongly characterised by the involuntary reliving of particularly painful memories. About 1 in every 3 people who experience trauma will develop PTSD, but it’s not clear why some people develop it and others don’t. Now, new research out of the University of Basel has discovered a genetic component that may help explain why some people are more susceptible, as lead researcher Dominique de Quervain told Eva Higginbotham...
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