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Re: Genetic connection PTSD, anxiety + depression

Posted by SLS on January 4, 2009, at 19:23:31

In reply to Genetic connection PTSD, anxiety + depression, posted by Maria3667 on January 2, 2009, at 5:26:10

Anxiety might be the intermediary between trauma, PTSD, and depression. That doesn't necessarily follow from common sense. Someone can develop depression as the result of chronic anxiety - PTSD for example. Anxiety often precedes depression in adolescents. To make matters more confusing, severe anxiety is often a symptom of depression in the absence of anxiety disorders. This anxiety, like a positive-feedback loop, can reinforce the depression or PTSD and make them worse and less amenable to treatment. It is therefore important to be as aggressive in treating the anxiety as it is the depression. Treatment can be psychological and/or biological. If the anxiety remains after the depression remits, the likelihood of suffering a relapse is increased.

The common denominator here is anxiety. However, the thread that runs through the fabric of these phenomena is genetic or epigenetic vulnerability. An example of a genetic contribution would be the presence of homozygotic short alleles for the serotonin transporter. Examples of epigenetic contributions would be things like head trauma, stroke, or drug exposure. It is not always easy to determine hereditability. People within family units often learn dysfunctional behaviors as they are passed down generation to generation. The chronic stress placed on the individual from these family dynamics can act as primer for a pathological reaction to trauma. Nature versus nurture? The line to be drawn here is tenuous at best, to be sure. This is why a multimodal treatment structure is sometimes necessary to reach therapeutic goals. One must treat both the brain and the mind. Treating the mind effectively results in long lasting changes in the brain. Treating the brain effectively results in long lasting improvements in the functional dynamics of the mind.

I have absolutely no idea why I rambled here. I could have been watching football.


- Scott

 

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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090104/msgs/872284.html