Preventing discrimination based on psychiatric risk biomarkers

Recent studies have identified genomic and nongenomic psychiatric risk biomarkers (PRBs; e.g., genomic variants, blood analytes, gray matter volume). PRBs may soon become a powerful tool for improving psychiatric care and prevention. PRB research and its translation to clinical care, however, may prove to be a double‐edged sword. Mental health stigma and discrimination are already widespread, and data caution that biological explanations of psychiatric disorders can exacerbate these stigmatizing attitudes, increasing the desire for social distance and heightening the perceived dangerousness of the patient. As a reaction to the Human Genome Project and historical concerns about eugenics, the international community mobilized to establish legislation to prevent genomic discrimination. But in most countries, these laws are limited to few contexts (e.g., employment, health insurance), and very few countries protect against discrimination based on nongenomic risk biomarkers. Like genomic PRBs, nongenomic PRBs provide information regarding risk for stigmatized psychiatric disorders and have similar—and in some cases greater—predictive value. Numerous large‐scale neuroscience and neurogenomics projects are advancing the identification and translation of PRBs. The prospect of PRB‐based stigma however, threatens to undermine the potential benefits of this research. Unbridaled by nonexistent or limited PRB anti‐discrimination protections, the threat of PRB‐based stigma and discrimination may lead many to forego PRB testing, even if shown to have clinical utility. To maximize the clinical and social benefits of PRB‐based technologies, educational campaigns should address mental health and PRB stigma, and lawmakers should carefully consider expanding legislation that prohibits PRB‐based discrimination.