How might the study of epigenetics contribute to our understanding of how traumatic experiences can lead to lasting changes in an individual's mental health? Epigenetics may explain how trauma can alter gene expression, potentially leading to mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression. Epigenetics would prove that individuals are born with a predetermined capacity for resilience against trauma. Epigenetics could reveal that trauma is not genetically influenced and it solely depends on environmental factors. Epigenetics could demonstrate that all forms of mental illness originate from traumatic experiences.