Impacts of Learning One’s Own Genetic Susceptibility to Mental Disorders

Abstract

Genomic research is rapidly advancing, and personalized genetic risk information about various mental disorders is likely to become readily available for many individuals. Although genetic profiling is intended to improve individually tailored treatments, knowing one’s genetic risks or lack thereof can have unintended consequences. Upon learning that they have elevated genetic risks for a mental disorder (e.g., depression), people may become more pessimistic about their prognosis and misremember their symptoms as being more serious because they misconceive genes as immutable and defining of their identity. Upon learning that they are not genetically predisposed to a mental disorder (e.g., alcohol use disorder), people may underplay the downstream ramifications of the symptoms even when they are currently experiencing those symptoms. Possible interventions to counteract these problems and suggestions for future research are also discussed.