Precision Medicine in Mental Health: Applications, Challenges, and Recommendations

Mental disorders represent a major and growing public health challenge in Europe and worldwide, characterised by marked clinical, biological, and functional heterogeneity that limits the effectiveness of current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.In recent years, advances in Precision Medicine have initiated a paradigm shift in psychiatry, offering new opportunities to improve prevention, prediction, diagnosis, treatment selection, and long-term management by integrating biological, psychological, social, and environmental information.This EPA Guidance Paper provides an overview of the current state of Precision Medicine in mental health and outlines its potential clinical, scientific, and policy implications.We review key advances in genomics, epigenetics, neuroimaging, transcriptomics, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence, highlighting their relevance across the full clinical pathway, from risk prediction and early detection to treatment personalisation and monitoring.We also examine major barriers to implementation, including limited biomarker validation, insufficient representativeness of research populations, ethical and regulatory challenges, data protection concerns, and inequalities in access across healthcare systems.Based on the available evidence, we propose strategic recommendations to support the responsible and equitable integration of precision approaches into mental health care in Europe.These include strengthening translational research, promoting multidisciplinary collaboration, updating regulatory and ethical frameworks, enhancing professional training, and prioritising mental health within national and European research and health agendas.By addressing these challenges, Precision Psychiatry has the potential to contribute to more effective, person-centred, and sustainable mental health care, while supporting innovation, reducing stigma, and improving outcomes for patients and society.

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Publication Details

Journal
European Psychiatry
Published
2026-04-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2026.12210
Primary Topic
Digital Mental Health Interventions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Precision Medicine in Mental Health: Applications, Challenges, and Recommendations

Inez Myin‐Germeys, Celso Arango, Péter Kéri, Andrea Fiorillo et al.
European Psychiatry
Digital Mental Health Interventions
article

Precision Medicine in Mental Health: Applications, Challenges, and Recommendations

Inez Myin‐Germeys, Celso Arango, Péter Kéri, Andrea Fiorillo, Pavel Mohr, Lourdes Fañanás, Andreas Reif, Martina Rojnić Kuzman, Ana Catalán, Philippe Courtet, Livia De Picker, M Leboyer, Brenda WJH Penninx, Eduard Vieta, Martien J.H. Kas
article en

Abstract

Mental disorders represent a major and growing public health challenge in Europe and worldwide, characterised by marked clinical, biological, and functional heterogeneity that limits the effectiveness of current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.In recent years, advances in Precision Medicine have initiated a paradigm shift in psychiatry, offering new opportunities to improve prevention, prediction, diagnosis, treatment selection, and long-term management by integrating biological, psychological, social, and environmental information.This EPA Guidance Paper provides an overview of the current state of Precision Medicine in mental health and outlines its potential clinical, scientific, and policy implications.We review key advances in genomics, epigenetics, neuroimaging, transcriptomics, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence, highlighting their relevance across the full clinical pathway, from risk prediction and early detection to treatment personalisation and monitoring.We also examine major barriers to implementation, including limited biomarker validation, insufficient representativeness of research populations, ethical and regulatory challenges, data protection concerns, and inequalities in access across healthcare systems.Based on the available evidence, we propose strategic recommendations to support the responsible and equitable integration of precision approaches into mental health care in Europe.These include strengthening translational research, promoting multidisciplinary collaboration, updating regulatory and ethical frameworks, enhancing professional training, and prioritising mental health within national and European research and health agendas.By addressing these challenges, Precision Psychiatry has the potential to contribute to more effective, person-centred, and sustainable mental health care, while supporting innovation, reducing stigma, and improving outcomes for patients and society.

European Psychiatry
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University Hospital Centre Zagreb (HR), University of Antwerp (BE), Inserm (FR), University of Groningen (NL), Université Paris-Est Créteil (FR), University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" (IT), Université de Montpellier (FR), Charles University (CZ), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (ES), Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (DE), Hôpital Lapeyronie (FR), University Hospital Frankfurt (DE), Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier (FR), Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL), Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks-Europe (BE), Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer (ES), University Psychiatric Hospital (SI), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES), Universitat de Barcelona (ES), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, University of Cambridge, European Commission, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, European Regional Development Fund, EIT Health
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Digital Mental Health Interventions
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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