The Role of Precision Medicine in Child Psychiatry: What Can We Expect and When?

In the United States, nearly 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 4 children suffer with a mental illness, and for most, these illnesses confer significant social, occupational, or academic impairment.1,2 Whereas considerable progress has been made toward diminishing the impact of mental illness, in the last few decades, advances toward new, more effective, and more refined psychiatric treatments have slowed. First-line medications for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were all introduced decades ago,3-6 and little progress has been made in augmenting their effectiveness.7,8.