Neurotic? Relax and just blame it on your parents

NEUROTICS should not worry so much that modern life is making them more highly strung.

Because whether you are a glass- half- empty type is very much written in your genes.

The less relaxed among us, who stay awake at night worrying, can partly blame their parents.

In the largest genetic study of neuroticism, scientists have found 599 genes which make people more nervy and tense.

The results mean there are 136 locations in the human genome which can predict if people are neurotic, of which only 12 were previously known.

The findings are taken from a genetic database of almost 450,000 people, most living in Britain, which shows that almost everyone displays at least a few neurotic symptoms.

Researcher Dr Sophie van der Sluis, from Vrije University in Amsterdam, said: ‘We know from previous twin and family studies that 40 per cent of the differences that we see between people in neuroticism is actually explained by differences in their genes and thus inherited from their parents.’

The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics.