Symposium: Genetics role in mental illness key to better treatments

A better understanding of genetics role in mental illness will lead to better treatments, according to scientists who participated Thursday in the Massachusetts General Hospital Leadership Council for Psychiatrys ninth annual mental health symposium.

Scientists first identified genetic risk factors related to mental disorders about six years ago, said Dr. Jordan Smoller, director of the psychiatric and neurodevelopmental genetics unit in the hospitals Center for Human Genetics Research. Since then, nearly 200 genetic risk factors have been confirmed, Smoller said.

Genetic markers overlap in five disorders bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, Smoller said.

Were seeing some of these connections and the hope is (that) were going to be able to move towards a diagnostic system that is not simply based upon symptoms but on an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of mental illness, he said.

Another speaker, Dr. Sabine Wilhelm, chief of psychology, discussed body dysmorphic disorder.

About 2 percent of Americans have the condition, Wilhelm said. People with the disorder are preoccupied with a perceived flaw or flaws in their appearance. This intense focus on appearance is linked with an increased risk of depression and/or anxiety. People with the condition are 45 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, she said.

High doses of serotonin reuptake inhibitors can help alleviate the disorder, though the medication takes at least six weeks to work, Wilheim said. That drug is often used in conjunction with cognitive behavior therapy designed to pull a patients focus away from the perceived flaw and to boost his or her self-esteem, she said.

Parents can help children avoid the disorder by communicating positive comments about their own bodies, Wilhelm said.

Dont make make major comments about wrinkles and scars, things like that, Wilhelm said. She urges parents to be careful how they talk to their kids about their looks.

It is important to compliment girls for their academic and athletic prowess, rather than focus on their physical beauty, she said.

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Symposium: Genetics role in mental illness key to better treatments