Psychiatry is a famously inexact science. Despite the last few decades of research into the biological basis of mental illness, even the best doctors have to rely on trial and error when it comes to treatment — prolonging the suffering of a great many people.

“Personalized psychiatry” is an emerging field that aims to use the modern tools of genetics and brain imaging to narrow down treatment options for individual patients. But with personalized medicine controversial enough when it comes to physical health, are the proponents of personalized psychiatry promising more than they can deliver? 

This piece profiles the complex search for psychiatric biomarkers within a fast-moving research climate.