There is often a strong connection between addiction and mental illness: depression and anxiety may be the root causes of behavioral and substance addictions–and vice versa.

Underlying mental health conditions should be treated for patients suffering from addiction disorders to improve overall mental health. Yet, patients may not be willing to disclose their mental health or addiction concerns due to stigma. Not addressing a patient’s underlying depression may lead them to spiral even further out of control.

This GeneSight Cares webinar seeks to educate and inform clinicians that using the GeneSight test as a tool to help with the treatment of depression and anxiety in concurrence with an addiction disorder may lead to better outcomes.

Our goal is for attendees of this webinar to learn:
• Tactics to identify underlying depression and signs of addiction disorder
• When to use the GeneSight test once depression is identified
• Where the GeneSight test can be used to improve patient outcomes

Our panel of expert healthcare providers shared practical approaches for improving racial health equity in mental healthcare settings, including recent research presented at APA showing patients who received treatment guided by PGx testing showed improvements in clinical outcomes regardless of self-reported race or ethnicity.

Panelists included: – Gus Alva, MD, DFAPA – Founder and Medical Director, ATP Clinical Research in Costa Mesa, Calif. – Johnny Williamson, MD – Owner, Spectrum Behavioral Health in Hinsdale and New Lenox, Ill. – Morgan Saulsberry, PharmD – Senior Medical Science Liaison, Myriad Mental Health, Dallas, Texas

Primary care providers (PCPs), like family practitioners, internists, social workers, OB-GYNs, advance practice nurses, and more are on the front lines of an escalating mental health crisis.

Our panel of experts explained how tools like the GeneSight test are helping PCPs improve mental healthcare for their patients.

Conversations around suicide are often shrouded in misunderstanding and driven by fear. Cultural assumptions and misconceptions heighten the stigma around an already difficult topic. Guilt, shame, and shifting blame prevent honest conversations that can lead to healing. This discussion aimed to provide participants with practical approaches that encourage open dialogue around suicide and suicide prevention.

July marks Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and while race, ethnicity, identity, and cultural background have been shown to be determinants of mental health among minority individuals, for reasons too extensive to cover in one program, this GeneSight Cares webinar focused on a very specific issue that impacts the mental health of parents and children of color – fear and trauma caused by hate.

Coming out can be scary for LGBTQ+ people, yet it’s just one moment of fear in a lifetime of hateful threats.

Experts identified sources of depression misunderstanding and offered solutions to help bridge the depression disconnect in a GeneSight Cares Webinar.

A panel of experts in mental healthcare diversity and inclusion discussed what’s happened in our nation’s past to cause the deep-rooted mistrust of the mental healthcare system and clinical research in the Black community – and what can be done to build back that trust.

Barriers to accessing mental health care were identified by four renowned panelists as including stigma; lack of trust in medical institutions; scarcity of resources and clinicians; and insurance. Listen to this energetic conversation and learn how health care and religious leaders are working to remove these barriers.

What many presume to be typical “senior moments,” may actually be symptoms of more serious mental health issues, including depression. Our panelists touched on how COVID is impacting mental health, the limitations of telehealth, and then held an animated conversation about GDRs and whether—despite the good intention–they hurt or help senior patients.

Whether it’s in medical settings, on the street or in the classroom, unconscious bias exists all around us. And it is largely racial bias.

Our panel of board-certified psychiatrists shared stories of experiencing implicit and explicit bias; and offered participants the chance to learn strategies to address unconscious bias and stereotypes in healthcare settings.

Patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and other gender and sexual orientations (LGBTQ+) can often experience a double stigma in which they feel they are not accepted by either the mental health community due to their LGBTQ+ identities or the LGBTQ+ community due to mental health issues including depression.

The mental health practitioners on our panel shared how simple actions and meaningful inclusion practices can help LGBTQ+ patients with depression feel more supported in clinical environments.