# The new field of ‘precision psychiatry’

“The new field of ‘precision psychiatry’” (2017), by Brisa Simões Fernandes et al. Arts and Humanities research paper. Original abstract below, unchanged. A free PDF is available.

- Authors: Brisa Simões Fernandes, Leanne Maree Williams, Johann Steiner, Marion Leboyer, Andre Ferrer Carvalho, Michael Berk
- Published: April 10, 2017
- Field: Arts and Humanities
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-017-0849-x
- Free PDF: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12916-017-0849-x

## Abstract

BACKGROUND: Precision medicine is a new and important topic in psychiatry. Psychiatry has not yet benefited from the advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technologies that form an integral part of other clinical specialties. Thus, the vision of precision medicine as applied to psychiatry - 'precision psychiatry' - promises to be even more transformative than in other fields of medicine, which have already lessened the translational gap. DISCUSSION: Herein, we describe 'precision psychiatry' and how its several implications promise to transform the psychiatric landscape. We pay particular attention to biomarkers and to how the development of new technologies now makes their discovery possible and timely. The adoption of the term 'precision psychiatry' will help propel the field, since the current term 'precision medicine', as applied to psychiatry, is impractical and does not appropriately distinguish the field. Naming the field 'precision psychiatry' will help establish a stronger, unique identity to what promises to be the most important area in psychiatry in years to come. CONCLUSION: In summary, we provide a wide-angle lens overview of what this new field is, suggest how to propel the field forward, and provide a vision of the near future, with 'precision psychiatry' representing a paradigm shift that promises to change the landscape of how psychiatry is currently conceived.

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