Child abuse and genetics have been mentioned before on this blog as contributors to mental illness - but never in the same story, until now.
A new study suggests that having certain gene variations helps people avoid depression as adults even if they were abused or otherwise experienced “extreme stress” as children.
Those without the variations have less protection from stress hormones that “hyperactivate” the chemicals known as neurotransmitters (discussed the other day).
Of course, they can still benefit from therapy to deal with the trauma of abuse - and the sooner, the better.
When it comes to mental illness, neither nature nor nurture (or the lack of it) has to be destiny by itself.