Abstract
There are many misunderstandings about the heritability of psychiatric disorders. Like other medical conditions, some are inherited, whereas others are not. The primary purpose of genetic counseling is to educate those seeking counseling (the consultands) and to provide them with relevant information concerning the disorder of interest. The recent explosive growth in the number of genes identified through the efforts of the National Institutes of Health has been exciting. Currently, more than 9000 diseases are known to be genetic (1), and diagnostic tests are available for more than 800 genetic disorders (GeneTest—www.genetests.org). However, new knowledge can and often does create new confusion. As more genetic tests become available, the use and interpretation of those tests will become critical.
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© 2004 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Tsuang, D.W., Faraone, S.V., Tsuang, M.T. (2004). The Role of Genetic Counseling. In: Stone, W.S., Faraone, S.V., Tsuang, M.T. (eds) Early Clinical Intervention and Prevention in Schizophrenia. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-729-1_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-729-1_15
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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