Beyond reliability: biomarkers and validity in psychiatry.
The validity of psychiatric diagnosis rests in part on a demonstration that identifiable biomarkers exist for major psychiatric illnesses. Recent evidence supports the existence of several biomarkers or endophenotypes for both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. As we learn more about how these biomarkers relate to the symptoms, course, and treatment response of major psychiatric disorders, the "objectivity" of psychiatric diagnosis will increase. However, psychiatry is and will remain a clinically based discipline, aimed at comprehensively understanding and relieving human suffering.
Pies
Ronald
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Dr. Pies is Professor of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts USM, Boston, Massachusetts.