Genesight

Medications like antidepressants offer significant benefits to patients with psychiatric disorders, but it can take time to find the one that works best for each individual. The licensed therapists at Desert View Counseling & Consulting in Phoenix and Peoria, Arizona, use GeneSight® to overcome this issue. GeneSight analyzes your genetic makeup to determine which medications may be most effective and cause the fewest side effects. Call Desert View Counseling & Consulting to learn how GeneSight can assist your recovery, or book an in-person or telehealth appointment online today.

What is GeneSight?

GeneSight is a test that helps the Desert View Counseling & Consulting team determine which medications are the most effective for specific mental health patients. The results predict how a patient’s genes might respond to various psychopharmacological substances.

Many patients with mental health disorders benefit from medications, including:

• Anti-anxiety drugs
• Mood stabilizers
• Antidepressants
• Stimulants
• Antipsychotics

However, multiple types of each medication are available.

Some patients respond well to certain types, while others find them ineffective or experience intolerable side effects. Trial and error is traditionally the only way to discover an individual’s reaction.

GeneSight testing helps you avoid this prolonged process of finding an effective medication.

What are GeneSight’s benefits for mental health care?

GeneSight’s benefits for a mental health medication management treatment plan include:

Effectiveness

There are many psychiatric drugs available that all affect people differently, so it can be hard to select the one that’s best for you. GeneSight can help identify how specific medications will likely work in a given individual’s body. This reduces the problems of trying drugs on a trial-and-error basis, which can take many months or years.

Side effect reduction

Side effects may develop with any drug, and sometimes they’re highly unpleasant — even life-threatening. With regular prescribing, no one knows how an individual’s body will react until after they start taking a drug.

GeneSight identifies medications likely to cause side effects in someone with your genetics so your provider can avoid prescribing them.

Accurate dosing

GeneSight helps your provider determine the optimal medication dose and enables them to adjust your dosage safely throughout the treatment period.

What mental health conditions benefit from GeneSight testing?

GeneSight is helpful for anyone requiring medications for a psychiatric disorder, including:

• Major depressive disorder (depression)
• Anxiety disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Bipolar disorder
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Schizophrenia

Children and adolescents with behavioral conditions like oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) might also benefit from carefully selected medications.

What does a GeneSight test involve?

The GeneSight test is a simple, painless cheek swab. You can visit Desert View Counseling & Consulting for a swab or use a convenient home collection kit.

Swabs go to GeneSight’s labs for analysis. The results typically take about two days to arrive. The Desert View Counseling & Consulting team can discuss the results with GeneSight’s Medical Affairs team before recommending your medication.

GeneSight testing is invaluable for optimizing psychiatric disorder medication results. Call Desert View Counseling & Consulting to learn more, or schedule a consultation online today.