Psychiatrists’ use of biomarkers could open a new window into mental health diagnoses

Amanda Miller was 30 and pregnant with her second child in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when she developed depression. After she gave birth, her depression worsened. It was joined by a slew of unexplained health problems.

Miller, a neuroscientist, said she saw several psychiatrists and got prescriptions for drug after drug. Over two years, she tried four antidepressants and two antipsychotics. None of that helped - until her primary care doctor noticed high levels of an autoimmune marker in her blood.

A specialist then ran "every test in the book," Miller said. Eventually, she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus and prescribed an inflammation-lowering steroid. Some of her symptoms let up within hours. Her depression subsided not long after.

Had inflammation been contributing to her mental health problems all along? Miller thinks so, although she can't know for sure. Her psychiatrists never raised that possibility, she said.