[Schizophrenia, human genetics and genetic counselling. Human genetic counselling as part of the psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment concept].

The human genome project has substantially increased our knowledge about the genetic basis of psychiatric diseases. In daily clinical practice the physician is asked about the diagnosis of genetically dependent diseases with an increased psychiatric risk, particularly schizophrenia group disorders, about the recurrence risk of psychiatric diseases in the relatives and children of the patients, on the use of psychopharmaceuticals during pregnancy and their potential consequences for the offspring, as well as psychopharmacogenetics. These questions will be dealt with in this contribution. At present, they receive too little attention, although genetic counselling might play an important role within the framework of psychiatric treatment, especially for schizophrenia. Such counselling should be seen as a component of the psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment concept and performed according to human genetic guidelines.