Psychiatric Genetic Consueling

NPISTANBUL Neuropsychiatry Hospital is the first hospital in Turkey to have it's own pharmacogenetic laboratory. Thus, being able to provide patients with 'Genetic Counseling in Psychiatry' and help them understand more about their illness. The pharmacogenetics laboratory is equipped with highly advanced, modern technology which speeds up the therapeutic process by providing test results about the patient's blood-medication levels and genetic background.

Psychiatric Genetic Counseling

People with personal or family history of psychiatric or mental health conditions can apply for genetic counseling. After specialists gather information about the person's history and analyze the person's family members, our staff of highly-educated genetic specialists begin their search for the causes and reasons of any psychiatric or mental health condition that the person might have. This method can also determine problems that may be expected to occur in the future and help understand the person's situation better.

Information about the Future of Your Child

Also with help of the genetic counseling service, if you plan on becoming pregnant or already are, you may learn about whether or not your child is at any risk for having a certain illness or psychiatric disorder.

"Personalized Treatment"

Psychiatric Genetic Counseling (Assessment Of The Risk For an Inherited Disorder)

The genetic counseling session will probably last about an hour, and what is covered during the session will be different for each person. But here are some general things that are likely to occur:
- A detailed family history will be taken by the counselor. The more information you can gather the better the counselor can study and share the type and pattern of psychiatric conditions that may run in your family.
- Using the family history information, the counselor will talk about the likely cause of the illness in your family. Some people are interested in talking about risks for themselves, their children or other family members to develop the condition or related conditions.
- Education about the cause and symptoms of the condition(s)
- While genetic testing is not yet available for most psychiatric conditions, the genetic counselor will explore with you how likely it is that other family members might become ill.
- The genetic counselor may also discuss environmental risk factors in and outside of the home, what to look for in a young person at risk for the condition and when to seek treatment.
- The genetic counselor can help you develop strategies for dealing emotionally with the risk in your family and the uncertainty related to whether a family member will or will not become ill.

Why see a psychiatric genetic counselor?

If you have a personal or family history of a psychiatric or mental health condition, the psychiatric genetic counselor will help to answer questions you have about the cause of the condition and the chance it can happen again in your family. These types of conditions may include depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and others. If you are pregnant or considering pregnancy, the risk to your children based on your personal or family history of a psychiatric disorder will be discussed.

In general, there is no genetic testing offered during psychiatric genetic counseling sessions, but during genetic counseling session you can get information about actual genetic research results.

What should I do prior to appointment?

To get the most out of the appointment, try to provide as much information as possible about the psychiatric conditions in your family. Try to find out about:

- Your own mental health history and current status
- Who in your family has mental health conditions
- The names of the condition(s) that run in your family, if known
- Ages that people in your family began having symptoms and were diagnosed

What will happen during my appointment?

The genetic counseling session will probably last about an hour, and what is covered during the session will be different for each person. But here are some general things that are likely to occur:
- A detailed family history will be taken by the counselor. The more information you can gather the better the counselor can study and share the type and pattern of psychiatric conditions that may run in your family.
- Using the family history information, the counselor will talk about the likely cause of the illness in your family. Some people are interested in talking about risks for themselves, their children or other family members to develop the condition or related conditions.