Translational research as prerequisite for personalized psychiatry

Excerpt

Psychiatric disorders are often conceptualized from a biopsychosocial perspective, in which factors from single genes to social environment play important etiological roles. Similarly, treatments of psychiatric disorders optimally target a range of these etiological levels, for instance, by chemical alteration (e.g., via medication) and establishment of social support structures (e.g., via psychotherapy) without being eclectic in the choice of treatment [1]. Despite such conceptual complexity, however, scientific research relies on parsimony and the formulation of targetable research hypotheses, and thus is at risk to result in a reductionist fragmentation of single-discipline approaches. Such fragmented research might produce findings that are not generalizable and difficult to translate into multidisciplinary, biopsychosocial frameworks. This stresses the need for translational research which balances the risk of being reductionist on the one hand and eclectic on the other hand, by providing treatment guidelines and establishing a personalized psychiatry. …