Advocating for genetic testing in mental healthcare

Hi, I’m Kristen. I founded the I’m Not Crazy Project because I can’t stop talking about genetic testing in mental healthcare. This cutting-edge technology saved my life from debilitating clinical depression by helping my psychiatrist prescribe me more precise drugs that work for my unique brain chemistry.

Prior to genetic testing, I tried over 15 different combinations of psychiatric medications—most with intolerable side effects—until I met my doctor who used genetic testing to find the root cause of my depression. When he revealed the genetic testing results, I finally realized that I wasn’t crazy. I had a medical issue with a real, chemical cause. My doctor then used that information to prescribe me the exact medications my body needed. As a result, my mind and brain healed. I could then build a sturdier life for myself.

Now, I’m a writer and speech-language pathologist who specializes in helping people heal their brains and communicate better after strokes, brain injuries, or cancer.

I believe wider awareness and use of genetic testing in mental healthcare has the capacity to help many others toward recovery, so I won’t shut up about it.

“Honestly, why aren’t more people talking about this?”

That’s how most people respond when I tell them my story. And it’s a good question that I aim to investigate and discuss with the INCP.

Mental health is extremely complicated and multi-faceted, but wider use of this technology could save lives and revolutionize how we think about and treat people with mental health challenges.

My Story

In 2013, I was a journalism student and an investigative reporting fellow at the Washington Post. I had been taking an antidepressant for four years since my first major depressive episode as an undergraduate at Duke University. Sick of side effects, I called up my psychiatrist and asked him to help me get off of the medication. He gave me a schedule to taper off of it, and I followed it exactly.

As graduate school became more stressful, I began to have anxiety attacks, and the depression returned. I had daily suicidal ideations, which led to an episode of self-harm. I left graduate school and felt like my life was over.

For the next year and a half, I would see over 20 different mental health professionals, try 15 different medications, and cycle in and out of seven different psychiatric facilities in five different states. Fortuitously, I ended up in the care of a compassionate, progressive psychiatrist who was just starting to use genetic testing in his practice to help find specific medications for his patients. He informed me that I had at least two genes that negatively impacted the production of serotonin in my brain. Essentially, my body was unable to produce a healthy dose of “happy chemicals” on its own. 

Using my genetic testing results as a guide, this incredible psychiatrist was able to prescribe a new antidepressant that was more likely to work for my body chemistry. This is known as pharmacogenetic testing (PGx), and it saved my life. Within weeks, my mental pain began to subside. 

Now I know that I need to manage my brain chemistry like a person with diabetes manages her insulin and that, most importantly, there is no shame in that. My illness is a part of who I am, but it does not define me. Empowered with more effective medication and this new self-knowledge, I was able to return to graduate school and build a stable support system.

In 2018, I graduated from George Washington University with a master’s in speech-language pathology. Now I am a practicing speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with adults who have brain injuries. I never expected that I would be a frontline healthcare worker during a pandemic, but I am thankful that I had the strong support network and correct brain chemicals to carry me through it. 

In 2019, I founded the I’m Not Crazy Project in partnership with Creative Visions Foundation in response to the outpouring of support, questions, and other people’s stories I received from all over the world after I appeared on the Dr. Oz Show.

To spread the word about genetic testing in psychiatry, I have told my story as a keynote speaker at conferences such as NAMI and Life Sciences Future -MedTech, through spoken word poetry at Busboys & Poets in DC, and in publications such as Writer’s Digest, Huffington Post, The Hill, and PsychCentral. I have been interviewed on podcasts, including PGx for Pharmacists, the 9th most downloaded podcast for genetics in the world. My poetry and images have been featured in art galleries and performance spaces. I have appeared in social media campaigns for biotech companies, including Genomind and Illumina.

My clinical depression has been in remission for over ten years now. By giving my brain the daily serotonin boost it needs, I am able to experience the normal range of human emotion without feeling overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts. I hope my story can help others suffering from mental health challenges get the compassionate, effective care that they deserve.