Doctors have known for a long time that alcoholism is associated with increased risk of anxiety, such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), and that heavy drinkers are more likely to be involved in automobile accidents and/or domestic violence situations. Now, new research by experts at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and UNC's Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, published online September 2, 2012 in Nature Neuroscience has determined that high alcohol consumption rewires brain circuitry, which suggests that it is more difficult for people who drink heavily to bounce back from a traumatic event in their lives. Thomas Kash, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine commented: "There's a whole spectrum to how people react to a traumatic event. It's the recovery that we're looking at - the ability to say 'this is not dangerous anymore.' Basically, our research shows that c...