HealthDay (12/19, Thompson) reported a study suggests that “psychiatric conditions as varied as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder might be driven by very similar genetic underpinnings.” According to researchers, “mental health problems can be sorted into five general genetic categories, each with a shared ‘genetic architecture’ driving people’s illness.” The five general categories involving 238 genetic variants includes: disorders with “compulsive features” like anorexia, Tourette disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder; “internalizing” disorders like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder; substance use disorders; neurodevelopmental conditions “like autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder;” and bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. With that said, “70% of the genetic signal associated with schizophrenia is also associated with bipolar disorder, the study said.” The study was published in Nature.
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— “Different Mental Health Conditions Share Similar Genetics, Study Says,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 19, 2025