Addressing families’ concerns about risks for psychiatric disorders still currently relies heavily on empirical risk figures derived from family studies; efforts should be made to adapt the data to the unique family situation.60,61 Psychiatrists should be able to talk with patients and families about the hereditary nature of many psychiatric disorders and how this varies in the setting of a given genetic variant. They should be comfortable with explaining probabilistic concepts of inheritance. In the area of autism and intellectual disability, they will increasingly be expected to refer patients for genetic testing and to help them understand the results of such tests.
