Click here for more information and contact. This year the report highlights advances in stem cell research, brain imaging, pain, and severe mental illnesses. Since its inception in 1979, NAMI has advocated for increased research funding for severe mental illnesses. During that period of time, scientific understanding of the workings of the brain has grown dramatically. During Brain Awareness Week, NAMI focuses on the contributions of brain research to the fight against the most serious mental illnesses.
Brain research yields provocative insights into the miraculous workings of the human brain.
Every new brain discovery moves us one step closer to sound medical answers to living with severe mental illnesses. Unfortunately, the pace of that discovery is not what it should be. Severe mental illness research is significantly underfunded in relation to its economic and public health impact. According to the World Bank and World Health Organization, severe mental illnesses comprise four of the top ten causes of disability worldwide. Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder account for an estimated 20 percent of the world's total disability resulting from all diseases and injuries.