Researchers from around the world have found new clues about why many people have more than one psychiatric disorder at the same time.
In a large study, published in Nature, they examined the shared genetic roots of 14 mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, substance use disorders, ADHD, autism, and Tourette syndrome.
"Psychiatry is the only medical specialty with no definitive laboratory tests. We can't give a blood test to tell whether someone has depression—we have to rely on symptoms and signs. And that's true for almost every psychiatric disorder," said Kenneth Kendler, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine.
"Genetics is a developing tool that allows us to understand the relationships between disorders. The findings from this study reflect the most comprehensive analysis of psychiatric genomic data to date and shed new light on why individuals with one psychiatric disorder often have a second or third."
The team studied genetic data from over 1 million people with a psychiatric condition and 5 million people without one. By comparing their DNA, they identified genetic patterns that appear across several disorders. At the end of the study, they found 428 genetic variants and 101 chromosome regions that influence more than one condition.
Importantly, they discovered that most of the inherited risk for these disorders comes from five broad genetic groups related to compulsive behaviors, schizophrenia/bipolar conditions, neurodevelopmental issues, internalizing disorders like depression and anxiety, and substance use.
For example, depression, anxiety and PTSD share about 90 percent of their genetic risk, while schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share around 66 percent.
"I feel very proud to be a part of this effort," Kendler said. "This work really shows that we gain more for our field and for those suffering from mental illness when we come together to tackle these scientific challenges."
The researchers noted these insights could help improve how mental health diagnoses are defined and guide the development of new treatments for conditions that often occur together.
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