Genetic studies in psychiatry are on the rise and they form an important portion of all psychiatric research in last years. The genetic studies in psychiatry vary from classical association and linkage studies to genome wide association, and copy number variant studies. Genetic studies were focusing on different dimensions of psychiatric conditions. First of all, associations of target genes with psychiatric disorders were investigated in majority of studies. Association of drugs and genetics were also studied in many research projects. Genetic drug association studies consist of studies with efficacy and frequency of side effects of drug on different genetic polymorphisms. Recently, μ-opiate receptor gene (OPRM1) Asn40Asp single-nucleotide polymorphism was found to be associated with naltrexone drug response in alcoholic patients. This finding was very important for revealing effect of genetics on drug response. Naltrexone was effective in aspartate (Asp) 40 allele carriers but drug was ineffective in homozygote asparagine (Asn) carriers. Different genetic polymorphisms of genes encoding enzymes and receptors that were related to dopaminergic, serotonergic and glutamatergic systems were also associated with antipsychotic and antidepressant drug response and side effects. For example 5-HT2C receptor 759C/T gene polymorphism was associated with antipsychotic induced weight gain and T102C polymorphism of 5HT2A receptor gene was associated with response to risperidone. Genome wide association and copy number variations are new genetic techniques revealing more detailed and reliable results. Studies using these techniques might be more useful for exploring interactions between drugs and genetics. Studies on association of genetics with psychiatric disorders were limited and there were only a few studies available on association of genetics with psychiatric drugs in Turkey. Financial problems and approval speed and requirements of ethics committees are important barriers for conducting studies on genetic drug interaction. Resolving these issues might increase interest of psychiatrists on this topic.