diagnostic clarification of affected patients (77%), identify presymptomatic patients at risk for illness (77%), allow targeting of resources to at-risk populations (74%), allow prenatal testing to guide reproductive choices (66%), and lead to destigmatization of mental illness (58%) (Finn et al., 2005). Regarding stigma in particular, 70% of a mixed group of psychiatric patients in Denmark believed spreading knowledge that mental disorders are partly genetic will make it less shameful to suffer from a mental disease, a view endorsed by significantly more depressed than bipolar patients (Laegsgaard et al., 2009). Other potential benefits cited by bipolar patients and family members include helping research (90%) and providing a basis for tailoring medications to specific mutations (92%) (Meiser et al. 2005; 2008). Eighty-four percent of unaffected persons in a genetics of depression study noted that testing could allow earlier diagnosis and intervention (Meiser et al., 2005; Wilhelm et al., 2009). Less commonly, respondents believed genetic information could help a person make important life decisions, especially regarding marriage (Meiser et al., 2005; Trippitelli et al., 1998), family planning (Austin & Honer, 2007; Meiser et al., 2005), and financial planning (Trippitelli et al., 1998).
