Therapy roulette and the rise of pharmacogenetics


Filed Under Overcome Depression | Jul 14, MDT 8:26 pm

celexa anti-depressantThe Mayo Clinic recently released a study suggesting variations in the serotonin transporter gene might account for the different reactions people have to the anti-depressant Celexa.

I’m citing the study emphasize how there isn’t a single cure for depression. Different people have different responses to different treatments.The Mayo Clinic study shows how genetic factors can play a role in deciding how people react to medication. It’s not a stretch to imagine that genetic factors also contribute to how likely people are to respond to psychological interventions. Cognitive behavioral therapy, for example, is more likely to work for some people than for others.

The field of pharmacogenetics is dedicated to matching people with medication that fits their genetic profile. It’s currently in it’s infancy, so it’ll be years before people can really benefit from it. For now, pharmaceutical interventions for depression are something
of a crapshoot.

It’s the same with psychological interventions. Genetic profiling could make the job of practicing psychologists much easier, and the lives of their patients much more fulfilling. Unfortunately the social sciences have had a history of refuting the relationship between genes and human behavior. This antagonism has retarded the growth of gene-based psychological therapies. Thankfully, the older generation of psychologists, the ones who came of age in the sixties, are starting to retire. This is fantastic, because they’re being replaced by a generation that’s much more comfortable with the roles genes play in regulating human behavior.

We can look forward to a future where depression will no longer control people, because our medical professionals will be much more in control of the human condition. For the time being, we will have to make do with a less than adequate medical reality. That means some of us will have to play mental roulette, and test a variety of therapies before finding the one that works.