Over 900 million individuals worldwide are grappling with mental health conditions, yet accessing care remains a significant hurdle, compounded by limited treatment options.
Historical underfunding of mental health research has left us lagging in understanding the development of various mental illnesses. Mental health care, often referred to as the ‘Cinderella service,’ relies on isolated treatment approaches that frequently prove ineffective.
Addressing this global health crisis is the mission of MQ Mental Health Research.
Collaboration Driving Innovation
Research is the key to accelerating diagnosis, creating new interventions, effective therapies, and improved treatments, as well as finding ways to prevent mental illnesses.
Over the past decade, MQ has strategically invested over £30 million in high-quality research, selecting studies with the greatest potential impact.
MQ’s collaborative approach sets it apart, incorporating data science, neuroscience, sociology, psychiatry, and biology to take a holistic ‘mind, body, brain’ view.
All MQ research involves patients and individuals with lived experience of mental illness, ensuring that the right questions are asked, priorities are addressed, and the most significant impact is achieved.
As an independent charity, MQ can fund leading scientists globally, supporting those asking challenging questions, conducting ambitious studies, and achieving breakthroughs.
Innovative Approaches
For instance, in 2015, MQ funded the work of Dr. Ethel Nakimuli-Mpungu in Uganda. In areas heavily affected by war and HIV, communities were experiencing high levels of depression with limited access to treatment.
Ethel and her team developed a culturally sensitive group psychotherapy program, incorporating skills training to help break cycles of poverty.
Three years later, results showed a marked improvement, with participants experiencing significant and sustained reductions in depression symptoms, as well as improved adherence to HIV treatment.
Ethel’s program is now being implemented in other African nations, promising to enhance millions of lives. This is just one example of MQ’s transformative research impact.
Advancing Knowledge
Understanding the link between physical and mental health is a nascent field. Mental health, like physical health, often results from a combination of genetics, environmental triggers, socio-economic disparities, and biological mechanisms.
Health research has traditionally focused on single conditions and treatments. By adopting a broader perspective and dismantling research silos, MQ has already achieved several breakthroughs. For instance, linking inflammation to depression, hypermobility to anxiety, and identifying different inflammation markers in adolescent boys and girls diagnosed with depression.
Increased investment in high-quality research is imperative. The next major breakthrough in mental health is on the horizon, but for the millions worldwide suffering, it cannot come soon enough.
