UK Mental Health Research Funding 2014–2017

Mental health research remains chronically underfunded, both in terms of the burden of mental illness and in comparison to physical health conditions. In 2015, MQ compiled a comprehensive data set on mental health-related research grants awarded by major funders in the UK between 2008 and 2013 – the first of its kind. It showed just how little money is invested in mental health research – and where it’s spent, informing direction for further research to ensure funding is spent effectively. Four years later, this second analysis looks at mental health research funding in the UK from 2014 to 2017. Building on the findings of our last report to present the most detailed picture of mental health research to date it shows that: The total expenditure on mental health research from 2014–2017 was £497 million, on average £124 million per year. These figures translate to just over £9 spent on research per year, for each person affected by mental illness. By comparison, £612 million is spent on cancer research each year, which translates to £228 per person affected – or 25 times more per person. Funding for mental health research has remained flat over the ten-year period 2008–2017. Public donations account for 2.7% of mental health research funding – which, compared to other conditions, is very low. In cancer research, spending by fundraising charities makes up 68% of funding. In cardiovascular disease it is 41% and in dementia it’s 28%. Studies into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health conditions are significantly underfunded. Only 3.9% of funding goes towards prevention of mental illness. Almost half of all funding for mental health research is spent on underpinning research and aetiology. 26% of money spent on mental health research goes towards projects on children and young people, despite 75% of mental illness beginning before the age of 18. We know that mental health research can deliver better outcomes and truly transform lives. Advances in psychological treatments have improved the futures of hundreds of thousands of people with conditions including depression, anxiety, PTSD and eating disorders. New insights from data science are enabling us to better tackle major challenges like early mortality in severe mental illness, and suicide and self-harm. Developments in genomics, stem cell biology, neuroscience and the social sciences have identified key risk factors for mental health conditions. And online mental health interventions are increasingly being recognised as an effective treatment and prevention option for mental health care. Mental health research also provides good value for money. Data has shown that for every £1 invested in mental health research in the UK, around 37p is returned to the UK in health and GDP gains each year. Mental illness affects 13.5 million people in the UK every year, and its impact on individuals, families and the UK economy is enormous – an estimated £100 billion a year.2 We hope this analysis will act as a catalyst, informing research policies and inspiring increased collaboration and coordination between public research funders, universities, charities and the wider voluntary sector, which was called for in the UK government’s 2018 Framework for Mental Health Research. Through this report, we want to fuel ambition for change. It’s time to turn the hugely positive increase in attention on this issue into a public movement for action – driven by a recognition that research must play a central role in redefining the future of mental illness.