We were stunned this week when we saw on the news that two thirds of Aussies have had to use trial and error with multiple antidepressants as they try to find something that will successfully treat their mental health issues.
The experts even went as far to say that we’ve completely reached the limits of our current knowledge of treating clinical depression.
Co-Director for Health and Policy at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, Prof Ian Hickie AM laid out the grim truth:
“Given our lack of diagnostic methods to predict different responses to antidepressants, or forecast the potential for intolerable side-effects, we are exposing those battling clinical depression, to trial and error, which is often slow to deliver significant benefits.
“To date, we have failed to move effectively from the general principles of treating clinical depression, to much more personalised and targeted approaches that minimise risk to maximise benefit.”
But we were also super excited when we read about an incredible study that’s trying to find the small number of genes (out of 20,000 possibilities!) that cause depression.
The Australian Genetics of Depression Study is looking for another 10,000 volunteers to simply complete an online survey and provide a saliva sample. To qualify, you just need to be over 18 and have been diagnosed with clinical depression at some point in your life.
If the research pans out as the investigators hope it will, then not only will they be able to tell who is more likely to develop depression and provide those people with preventative strategies, but they may also be able to tell why antidepressants work for some people and not others. Hey presto – a personalised treatment plan without months of figuring it out the old fashioned way.
“The link between genetics and clinical depression is very clear. Alterations in some genes cause clinical depression. But right now, we don’t know what they are. What we do know, however, is how to find them. We just need a large enough study, performed the right way, to identify them,” said Prof Nick Martin, Lead Study Investigator and Head of the Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
“Our groundbreaking research should allow us to identify between 50 to 100 genes that influence a person’s risk of developing clinical depression. Only then, through cracking the genetic code of clinical depression, will we be able to develop new, and more effective personalised treatments that target the problem directly.”
It was also incredible to see a number of people share their own personal battle with depression, including none other than The Bachelor’s Osher Günsberg. He’s a director of SANE Australia after being extremely open with his mental health struggles.
“It took quite a long time, meeting with lots of different doctors, and trialling multiple different medications and listening to different hypotheses about my illness, before we found a treatment that worked for me.
“I’ve tried life without being on medication for my mental illness, but it didn’t work for me,” Osher said.
Osher is continuing his road to recovery today and supporting the Australian Genetics of Depression Study to help researchers “identify ways to better treat people living with clinical depression individually, to more finely-tune the treatment possibilities, and to give people a chance to act before things get out of hand.”
To take part in the study or to find out more, head to www.geneticsofdepression.org.au