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Psychiatric Genetics in Clinical Practice: Essential Knowledge for Mental Health Professionals
Aaron D Besterman1, Mohamed A Alnor1, Mauricio Castaño1
1University of California San Diego Department of Psychiatry, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, and Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, San Diego (Besterman); School of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan and American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, UAE (Alnor); Department of Mental Health and Human Behaviour, University of Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia (Castaño); Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA (DeLisi); Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York (Grice); National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (Lohoff); Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry and Psychology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Reproduction & Development Research Institute, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, The Netherlands (Middeldorp); Pharmacogenetics Research Clinic, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada (Müller); Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, U.K., and Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Psychiatry Section, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy (Quattrone); Departments of Psychiatry and Medical and Molecular Genetics, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis (Nurnberger); Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (Nurmi); Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Edmonton (Ross); Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville (Soda); Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Germany (Schulze); Molecular Medicine Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada (Trost); Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili-CERCA, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM-Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Reus, Spain (Vilella); Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, and Mater Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland and Metro South Addiction and Mental Health Service, Brisbane, Australia (Yap); Neurogenetics Section, Molecular Brain Sciences Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Zai); Precision Medicine in Autism (PRISMA) Group, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry; Women and Children's Health Research Institute; Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute; University of Alberta; Alberta Health Services; CASA Mental Health; Edmonton, AB, Canada (Moreno-De-Luca).
Objective:
The authors provide recommendations on incorporating recent advances in psychiatric genetics into clinical practice for mental health clinicians.
Method:
The International Society for Psychiatric Genetics Education Committee met monthly to come to a consensus on priority topics in psychiatric genetics. Topics were then assigned to small teams of subspecialty experts to summarize the current knowledge base and create an illustrative clinical case. Topics included, familial aggregation, common and rare genetic variants, epigenetics, gene-environment interactions, pharmacogenomics, genetic counseling, and ethical and social implications. Each section was reviewed and revised by all committee members and then finalized by the Committee Chair.
Results:
Key findings highlight the importance of understanding the genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders, the potential applications of genetic information in risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment selection, and patient education, as well as the ethical and social considerations surrounding the use of genetic data. The committee emphasizes the need for a nuanced approach that integrates genetic factors with environmental and experiential factors in a holistic model of care.
Conclusion:
As psychiatric genetics continues to evolve rapidly, mental health clinicians must stay informed about the latest findings and their clinical implications. Ongoing education, collaboration with genetics professionals, and effective communication strategies are crucial to harness the power of genetics while avoiding potential pitfalls such as genetic determinism and stigma. The committee recommends a balanced perspective that recognizes the complex interplay of genetic and non-genetic factors in shaping mental health outcomes.
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