Mental health research has long been underfunded and overlooked, despite the millions of people affected by mental illness.

For every person living with mental illness, just £9 is invested in research, compared to £228 for cancer. While existing treatments for severe mental illness can be life-changing, they don’t work for everyone. In some cases, they cause serious side effects.

We urgently need better treatments, faster diagnoses, and more inclusive research.

That’s why we’re proud to partner with Akrivia Health to support their groundbreaking new study GlobalMinds - one of the largest and most detailed mental health studies ever undertaken.

Akrivia Health shares our view, and that of many people with severe mental illness, that progress in diagnosis and treatment has not kept pace with people’s needs.

GlobalMinds will gather data from 50,000 people across England, Wales, and internationally who live with serious mental health conditions. This rich dataset will help researchers better understand these conditions and develop more effective, tailored treatments.

Over the next three years, GlobalMinds will collaborate with NHS Trusts, mental health charities, and international partners, to transform the understanding and treatment of mental health conditions and ensure that researchers have the data they need to explore new breakthroughs in treatment.

GlobalMinds is run in partnership with leading academics at Cardiff University. The study is funded by the Wellcome Trust and Johnson and Johnson, and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

We are excited to collaborate with Akrivia Health because of GlobalMinds’ commitment to patient and public involvement, its focus on under-researched conditions, and its potential to drive transformative change across the mental health ecosystem.

Akrivia Health’s Patient Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group ensures that lived experience is central to every stage, from study design to recruitment and data governance. This aligns closely with Rethink’s values, as people who are severely affected by mental illness are at the heart of everything we do.

The study’s scale, inclusive approach, and emphasis on collaboration with charities make it a key opportunity to accelerate new discoveries and improve outcomes for people living with mental health conditions.

To learn more about GlobalMinds or check if you're eligible to participate, please visit their website.