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Pharmacogenomics

A genetic test for antidepressants and other psychiatric medications: how you’re likely to process them, for your prescriber. It can’t say which will work.

By the GeneMatrix editorial teamUpdated 4 min read

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In short

Yes, there is a DNA test for antidepressants and other mental-health medicines: a pharmacogenomic test. GenePGx’s mental-health view shows how you’re likely to process those with published guidance for the genes on its panel, in a report to bring to your prescriber. It can’t diagnose a condition or say which medicine will work.

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Pharmacogenomic results describe how your body is likely to process certain medicines. They do not tell you whether a medicine will work for you, and they are not dosing instructions. Never start, stop or change a medication because of a genetic result. Bring it to the prescriber who manages your medicines.

On this page
  1. What is a mental health DNA test?
  2. Is there a DNA test for antidepressants?
  3. What you get with GenePGx
  4. Which mental-health medicines have genetic guidance?
  5. Can a DNA test diagnose depression or anxiety?
  6. How it works
  7. Does testing help?
  8. Looking for our former mental-health test?
  9. Comparing tests?
  10. What to do next

What is a mental health DNA test?

A mental health DNA test is a genetic test for antidepressants and other psychiatric medications: it reports how you’re likely to process some of them, for your prescriber. It can’t say which medicine will work for you.

You may also see it called a psychiatric medication genetic test. It is a pharmacogenomic (PGx) test: from a saliva sample, it reads genes that affect how your body processes some of those medicines. It can’t diagnose a mental-health condition or predict one.

Is there a DNA test for antidepressants?

Yes. An antidepressant DNA test is a pharmacogenomic test. It reads genes that make the enzymes your body uses to process many medicines, including several antidepressants. Published CPIC guidelines use some of these genes for some antidepressants.[1]

It won’t tell you which medicine to take. What it gives you and your prescriber is one more piece of information, in writing, before the next decision about your medicines.

Calm ripplesRings spreading slowly outward from a single point.
The mental-health view sits in the same report as your everyday and pain medicines.

What you get with GenePGx

  • One saliva sample. You collect it at home with the kit and send it back.
  • A mental-health view. Medicines used for depression, anxiety and other conditions: how you’re likely to process the ones with published guidance for the genes on the panel.
  • Three more views in the same report. Everyday medicines, pain medicines, and a supplement view.
  • A plain summary first. Then the detail, written to go through with your prescriber.
  • A report to keep. Your genes don’t change, so you can share it with anyone who prescribes for you later.

The supplement section is never billed to insurance.

One $399 self-pay price covers the whole report. Insurance billing is coming soon.

Which mental-health medicines have genetic guidance?

Some groups of mental-health medicines have published guidance, and some don’t. These are the CPIC guidelines that cover them, and the genes each one names.[2]

CPIC guidelines for mental-health medicines: published guidance, not a list of what any one test reads
Group of medicinesGenes the guideline gives recommendations for
Antidepressants that act on serotonin reuptake (SSRIs, SNRIs and two related antidepressants)CYP2D6, CYP2C19 and CYP2B6[1]
Tricyclic antidepressantsCYP2D6 and CYP2C19[2]
A non-stimulant ADHD medicineCYP2D6[2]

Pharmacogenomic results describe how your body is likely to process certain medicines. They do not tell you whether a medicine will work for you, and they are not dosing instructions. Never start, stop or change a medication because of a genetic result. Bring it to the prescriber who manages your medicines.

Your report sets out the medicines with published guidance for the genes on the GenePGx panel. To look up a single medicine, use the Medication Check.

Can a DNA test diagnose depression or anxiety?

No. No DNA test diagnoses depression, anxiety or any other mental-health condition, and a pharmacogenomic test doesn’t predict whether you’ll develop one. Diagnosis comes from a clinician who talks with you. Here is what else it can’t do:

  • Say which medicine will work. It describes how you are likely to process a medicine, not whether it will help.
  • Replace your prescriber. Choosing a medicine, and how much of it, stays with them.
  • Turn research genes into advice. CPIC found that the evidence for two serotonin genes, SLC6A4 and HTR2A, doesn’t support using them to prescribe antidepressants.[1]

How it works

  1. 1OrderChoose GenePGx online. Your kit arrives by mail.
  2. 2CollectGive a saliva sample at home with the kit, and send it back.
  3. 3GenotypedThe lab checks the variants on the panel by genotyping.
  4. 4Read and shareWhen your results are ready we email you (the email never names your test) with the lab’s secure link to your report, which asks for the tested person’s details before it opens. Read the plain summary, then go through the detail with your prescriber.

GenePGx is for adults 18 and older. For a child, talk to their clinician about clinical pharmacogenomic testing.

Does testing help?

On average, a little: in depression trials, prescribing guided by a pharmacogenomic test brought modest gains on some measures, not all.[3][4] Those trials used other tests, not GenePGx, and an average is no promise for any one person, so read what the trials found.

Not a diagnosis, and not a prescription: one more piece of information for the person who prescribes for you.

Looking for our former mental-health test?

Our separate mental-health test is now part of GenePGx. The same report covers everyday and pain medicines too, with a supplement view, for one price.

The supplement section is never billed to insurance.

Comparing tests?

Weighing up GeneSight? Read our side-by-side comparison. It says plainly where GeneSight may suit you better.

What to do next

Not sure this is the right test for you? Find your test in a few questions, or see how our testing works.

Sources

  1. [1]CPIC guideline for CYP2D6, CYP2C19, CYP2B6, SLC6A4, and HTR2A genotypes and serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2023. Accessed .
  2. [2]CPIC guidelines (29 guidelines listed). Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium, on ClinPGx. Accessed .
  3. [3]Pharmacogenomic testing and depressive symptom remission: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective, controlled clinical trials. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2022. Accessed .
  4. [4]Effect of pharmacogenomic testing for drug-gene interactions on medication selection and remission of symptoms in major depressive disorder: the PRIME Care randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 2022. Accessed .

How we write and source these pieces: our editorial policy.

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NoteThe supplement section is never billed to insurance.

PGxPharmacogenomic results describe how your body is likely to process certain medicines. They do not tell you whether a medicine will work for you, and they are not dosing instructions. Never start, stop or change a medication because of a genetic result. Bring it to the prescriber who manages your medicines.

LabOur genetic tests are laboratory-developed tests performed in our own CLIA-certified laboratory. New York is the exception: orders shipped there are completed through a physician order or a reference laboratory permitted in New York. Our genetic tests have not been cleared or approved by the FDA. Results describe inherited traits and risks and are meant to inform decisions you make with your clinician. They are not a diagnosis.