New Research: Science Suggests Different Psychiatric Dx Might Have the Same Cause

A sweeping new study of psychiatric and genetic records has the potential to change treatment for millions of psychiatric patients, finding that many conditions involve similar genes and may not need to be treated as distinct illnesses.

Half of all people will experience a psychiatric disorder in their lifetime, and more than half of those patients will be diagnosed with a second or third disorder. If the research findings are accurate and there is a common genetic predisposition for multiple differing types of psychiatric conditions, then this could open opportunities for screening, early identification, and new treatment methodologies.

Published in Nature, the paper addresses the boundaries psychiatry uses to separate similar conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In essence, the study suggests that bolstering the traditional emphasis on patient behavior with a deeper understanding of the biology of mental illness could lead to better treatment. The research also suggests that linking genes to the brain processes they influence will provide psychiatrists with greater insight into their patients, and guide researchers toward new risk factor identification, genetic testing opportunities, or other therapies.