GeneSight® Pharmacogenomic Testing Informs Teen Treatment at Muir Wood
Most patients who are dealing with substance use disorder, including the adolescents that we see here at Muir Wood, typically experience one or more co-occurring mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. These conditions contribute to the complexity of substance abuse treatment. These mental health issues are frequently addressed in part through the use of psychotropic medications such as antidepressants as well as through behavioral therapies such as CBT, DBT, EMDR, and others. In the case of treatment through medication, different people respond in different ways. A drug that may be effective with one person may do little for another. Often, several such medications may be tried before finding one that is effective for a particular patient.
The relatively new field of pharmacogenomics seeks to address this problem. Pharmacogenomics examines genes that affect how an adult or adolescent will respond to a particular medication. This gives psychiatrists a better idea of which medications will work for which patients, eliminating the trial-and-error approach that normally accompanies psychotropic prescriptions. Pharmacogenomic testing can indicate which medications may be effective, which may perform poorly, and which could have detrimental effects.
