Exciting Research in the Field of Sexual Psychopharmacology: Treating Patients with Inside Information

In this chapter, the use of pharmacogenetics will be clarified, with a focus on sexual psychopharmacology in men and women. Multidisciplinary collaboration is crucial in sexual psychopharmacological research. As with many disciplines, the boundaries of sexual psychopharmacology are not sharply limited. Knowledge of the phenotype is essential when conducting research, applying genetics, and using psychopharmaceuticals, whereby a clearly defined (endo)phenotype and careful methodology are crucial. Furthermore, this approach reduces the ultimate risk of pharmacotherapeutic overtreatment within a certain indication and can reduce pharmacotherapeutic failure. Biological variation makes a theoretical “one-size-fits-all” strategy illogical. Practical experience so far shows that the use of psychotropic drugs within a total population results in a low success rate. Current practice is characterized by trial and error in which of the many psychotropic drugs that can be used for an indication, it is not clear in advance what will determine the chance of success at an individual level (Sinyor et al. Can J Psychiatry 55:126–135, 2010). Recent developments show that it is possible to use pharmacotherapy at an individual level using additional phenotypic and genotypic information (Tuiten et al. Womens Health (Lond) 14:1745506518788970, 2018). The purpose of this chapter is to provide insight into this new approach using recent developments in sexual psychopharmacology.