Finding the Right Antidepressant, Antipsychotic Medication For You

HealthyPlace Mental Health Newsletter

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

Finding the Right Antidepressant, Antipsychotic Medication For You
New Self-Injury Center on HealthyPlace.com
The Addictive Nature of Self-Injury on HealthyPlace TV
Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

Finding the Right Antidepressant, Antipsychotic Medication For You

Imagine you could find the right antidepressant medication or antipsychotic medication that works best for you -- the very first time. That's right, little or no trial and error.

There are 10-12 million people in the U.S. with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Another 15 million have depression. Many visit their doctor, get a prescription for an antidepressant or antipsychotic only to find out it's not as effective as they and their doctor had hoped. So they go down the list of antidepressants or antipsychotics and try another medication...and another...and maybe another.

There's a new diagnostic tool by a company called SureGene that could put an end to that. Your psychiatrist or family doctor would swab the inside of your mouth, grabbing some DNA and overnight the sample to the company's lab. In 3-5 days, the doctor gets a report which includes a recommendation to consider a specific drug that should work best for you; be effective and has the best side-effect profile suited to your body.

Tim Ramsey, VP New Product Development at SureGene, says while the diagnostic test isn't 100-percent perfect, it predicts the likelihood that a specific medication will work best for you based on your genetics. "We're not telling the doctor what to do," says Ramsey. "This tool helps doctors do their jobs more efficiently." From studies, Ramsey says there's about a 75-percent likelihood that the recommendation will be on-target.

In addition, the report will note a dosage recommendation and any specific medications to avoid. Mr. Ramsey says the diagnostic test is for anyone who is not currently satisfied with their medication because of effectiveness or side-effect issues. "We also want to reach first-time antidepressant, antipsychotic medication users so they avoid repeatedly having to try medication after medication to find one that works for them. This greatly reduces the guesswork on the part of the doctor."

The cost of the proprietary STA2R genetic panel is 100% covered by Medicare/Medicaid. Private insurance companies also cover a portion or all costs, depending on the patient's coverage limits. SureGene is just getting the word out to doctors, so if you speak to your doctor and he/she isn't aware of it yet, refer them to this website: www.suregenetest.com

New Self-Injury Center on HealthyPlace.com

Self-injury is a sign of distress not madness We've gone to town on our new Self-Injury Information Center. You'll find almost 40 new articles and a dozen videos on different aspects of self-injury, self-harm. Whether you are a self-injurer wanting to know how to stop self-harm or a parent or friend on the receiving end of a self-injury disclosure, we have in-depth, trusted information that can be helpful to you.

In conjunction with our new Self-Injury Center, we're proud to announce that Christie Stewart, aka sullengirl, is our new self-injury blogger. Christie is well-known on Youtube. Tens of thousands of people have viewed her videos on self-injury. She'll be doing weekly videos for her "Speaking Out About Self-Injury" blog and one written post a month. You can read more about Christie and drop her a welcome comment here.

Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Experiences

Share your thoughts/experiences with any mental health subject, or respond to other people's audio posts, by calling our toll-free number (1-888-883-8045).

You can listen to what other people are saying by clicking on the gray title bars inside the widgets located on the "Sharing Your Mental Health Experiences" homepage, the HealthyPlace homepage, and the HealthyPlace Support Network homepage.

If you have any questions, write us at: info AT healthyplace.com

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

Your comments and observations are welcomed.

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

The Addictive Nature of Self-Injury on HealthyPlace TV

Is self-injury similar to an addiction in that once you start, it's difficult to stop? In an earlier interview with our new self-injury blogger, Christie Stewart, we discussed the long-term nature of her self-injury behaviors. Why after 12 years of self-injury was she not able to completely stop; even though she wanted to? Watch, Why For Many: Once a Self-Injurer, Always a Self-Injurer.

That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or digg) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week:

back to: HealthyPlace.com Mental-Health Newsletter Index

APA Reference
Staff, H. (2012, September 5). Finding the Right Antidepressant, Antipsychotic Medication For You, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, December 21 from https://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/mental-health-newsletter/finding-the-right-antidepressant-antipsychotic-medication-for-you

Last Updated: September 4, 2014

Medically reviewed by Harry Croft, MD