NIMH Research Fails To Prioritize Schizophrenia Patients
For Immediate Release: November 19, 2020
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Geoffrey Melada, Director of Communications
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Arlington, Va. – A new research report authored by Treatment Advocacy Center board members Drs. E. Fuller Torrey, John Rush and Michael Knable, and executive director John Snook, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, finds that National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) clinical research has reduced relevance for 
schizophrenia patients.
The report describes the findings of three senior psychiatrists, Drs. E. Fuller Torrey, John Rush, and Michael Knable, who independently rated 428 schizophrenia-related research projects by NIMH in 2018. Their study measured each project on the likelihood (likely, possible, or very unlikely) that they would improve the symptoms and/or quality of life for persons with schizophrenia during the next 20 years.
Among the key findings, only 10% of the research projects were unanimously rated as possibly improving the symptoms and quality of life for individuals within the next 20 years.
"It totally unacceptable that only 10% of NIMH`s schizophrenia research projects have any possibility of helping people who currently have the disease. NIMH is not privately funded and cannot decide to only do basic research. It is publicly funded and was created to develop better treatments for mentally ill people now, not just in some distant future time," Dr. Torrey said.
Other key findings from the report include:
- At least one reviewer rated 90% of the research projects as being very unlikely to improve conditions and all three reviewers rated ‘very unlikely’ for 71% of the projects.
- The reviewers selected a total of 30 research projects as being the most likely to improve the symptoms and/or quality of life for those with schizophrenia. The total cost of these projects made up a mere 0.6% of the NIMH budget in 2018.
- The report noted a scarcity of research projects meant to improve the treatment of schizophrenia. Among the 428 research projects, there was just one treatment trial using a pharmacological agent.
- The reviewers found the little-known and underutilized RCDC NIH research database to be an effective tool for advocacy groups seeking to understand how the NIH institutes are spending public funds.
"The failure of our government leaders at the NIMH to prioritize improving the quality of life for people suffering from the most severe psychiatric diseases is shameful. Although basic science research is important to advancing the scientific knowledge of the neurological processes in our brains, the likelihood of these discoveries producing meaningful treatments now or in the near future is low,” said Treatment Advocacy Center Director of Research Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq.
“People with serious mental illness deserve better from our government leaders as we look towards the future of mental illness research, treatment and services,” Hancq added.
The authors believe that these findings are evidence that NIMH has further reduced clinical research that is most likely to help people who currently have schizophrenia. In the last 20 years, NIMH resources have shifted away from clinical research.
“By failing to adequately invest in schizophrenia treatments, we are consigning another generation to reduced lifespans, alongside higher rates of suicide, homelessness, victimization and criminalization. These tragic consequences are made all the more painful when you realize it doesn’t have to be this way,” said Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director John Snook.
The authors recommend that at least 50% of NIMH schizophrenia-related projects should be classified by advocacy groups as possible or likely to improve the symptoms and/or quality of life for individuals with this disease within 20 years.
The full text of the report is available here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0241062
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The Treatment Advocacy Center is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness by promoting laws, policies and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supporting the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
