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Can Genetic Testing Point You to the Best Mental Health Treatment?



Can Genetic Testing Point You to the Best Mental Health Treatment?

Our DNA holds clues about how to best treat depression and other conditions. The tests are becoming more widespread, but even doctors don’t always know the best way to interpret the information. Dr. Alok Patel goes to the frontier of personalized medicine to explain the tests and their limitations.

🩺🥼 Vitals is a series that’s taking a new approach to health and medicine. Hosts Alok Patel, MD, and Sheena Williams RN are going beyond the headlines to answer your questions on the latest health topics. No judgment, no taboos. Just 100% science-based information.

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Find our experts and hosts:

:: Sheena William, RN ::
Twitter: @Keepingitkinky1
Instagram: @keepingitkinky

:: Alok Patel, MD ::
Website: http://alokpatelmd.com/
Twitter: @AlokPatelMD
Instagram: @alokpatelmd

:: Joyce Chen, PMHNP-BC, PHN ::
Instagram: @thecuriouspsychnp

:: Stephanie Williams, DNP, CNM, CPM ::
Instagram: @doctor_midwife

:: Holly Garriock, Ph.D.::
To join All of Us Research Program as a participant, go to https://www.joinallofus.org/ To join All of Us as a researcher, go to https://www.researchallofus.org/

Learn more about personalized medicine:
– https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Personalized-Medicine
– https://genesight.com/genetic-insights/am-i-a-good-candidate-for-genesight-testing/
– https://genesight.com/white-papers/interpreting-the-genesight-psychotropic-report/

Studies mentioned:
– https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/depression-treatment-ssri/research-protocol
– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5419253
– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3363299/
– https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30327539/
– https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31721487/

View 10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. @immortan-valkyrie90 on

    I did GeneSight after my dad recommended it, as I struggled with bipolar 2 medications. Now I'm on a better dosage and switched meds that are the most effective. Also! My insurance thankfully covered it.

  3. @mehlover on

    Going to bring this up with my psychiatrist tomorrow. Cause my SSRI may have been interfering with my liver and blood pressure since I'm at risk for type 2 diabetes

  5. @krizthulhu on

    I look forward to the day where we are able to be (near) perfectly matched to our ideal psych med and dosage. Tests like GeneSight are still far too imperfect to count.

    Until that day (which I realize we likely won't see in our lifetimes), I opt to remain entirely off any/all of them because the side effects are never worth it.

    37 years old and been on various SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, AEDs, AAPs, BZDs – you name it – for my anxiety disorder… Since 10 years old.

    I'm over it. I'm tired. And I know I'm not alone.

    I see y'all. And I'm so sorry.

  6. @wangtoriojackson4315 on

    Mental health prescriptions are a scam. The medical community has known for decades that the whole "chemical imbalances in the brain" thing is false and based on bunk science, yet it's still the entire pharmacological basis for treatment anyway, because, oh, sometimes it works anyway even though we don't know why. But then other times it doesn't work, and other times it even actually increases instances of things like depression and suicidal ideation, the very things it is supposed to treat. Obviously something needs to change, and it is long past due.

  7. @safaiaryu12 on

    Interesting that you mention liver damage as a consideration. I was recently diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease, which forced me to stop taking hydrocodone with acetaminophen for my severe chronic pain. I'm also on two antidepressants (very common for people with chronic pain) which I'm scared to stop taking, but I wonder if it would be good to stop while my liver recovers…?

    Got an appointment with my psychiatrist in May, I'll have to ask him.

  8. @teschchr122 on

    I agree that this was not terribly helpful for me. Was recommended by my first psychiatrist , who I eventually fired after securing a much better psychiatrist. When I told the new psychiatrist that I had done GeneTest she said, send it along, it will be helpful but not as helpful as you think, confirming my suspicions since one of the meds that the other psychiatrist prescribed gave me pretty bad side effects.

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