Mental illness studies lack proper funding

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By PETER URBAN
Washington bureau
The Connecticut Post

Dec. 13, 1999 | WASHINGTON -- Mental ill-ness has taken a back seat to other diseases when it comes to finding a cure, according to Victoria E. Furey, an advocate for the mentally ill. The politicians, the media and the public are partly to blame, she added.

"It [mental illness] is not sexy. People's eyes glaze over. But, it is a devastating illness that costs mil-lions in health care," the Bridge-port, Conn., resident said. "You should wish with your heart and soul that nobody in your family comes down with this."

Furey's remarks came in re-sponse to a recent study that showed the federal agency charged with finding a cure for severe mental illness has frittered away millions on questionable research.

The study by mental health ad-vocates of nearly $425 million worth of grants awarded in 1997 by the National Institute of Mental Health found that nearly two-thirds of the money went to research not directly related to severe mental illness, such as on schizophrenia or manic-depression.

Instead, grants were given to re-search a wide range of topics, in-cluding a $200,000 grant to study adolescent romance, $88,000 to study aggression in Eastern blue-birds, and $99,000 to research the social behavior of prairie voles.

"The results show a shocking failure by the National Institute of Mental Health to carry out its pri-mary responsibility on diseases [that] cost the nation at least $74 billion each year," said Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, the senior author of the report and executive director of the Stanley Foundation Research Programs.

Major depression, schizophre-nia, manic-depressive illness, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are four of the top 10 most disabling illnesses, according to the World Bank and the World Health Or-ganization.

Furey, who is executive director of Bridge House, a psycho-social rehabilitation program for adults with severe mental illness in Bridgeport, said that despite the lack of funding tremendous break-throughs have been made in treat-ing mental illness in recent years. Medications are making it possible for many people with mental illness to be productive citizens.

"But, we are just beginning to understand the genetic links to ill-nesses like schizophrenia," she said.

Barry Kasdan, executive direc-tor of Bridges, a behavioral health clinic in Milford, Conn., agreed that there is an acute need for more research into mental illness.

"There certainly is not enough going into research or services," Kasdan said.

Kasdan said the study, commis-sioned by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, illustrates the problem that occurs when the fate of research is left to politics. Those diseases with well-organized advo-cacy groups tend to get the funding, while others flounder.

"When it falls into the political hopper, decisions are made based on the pressure of advocacy. It's unfortunate that it occurs in these areas," Kasdan said.

Since it was created in 1946, NIMH has assumed increasing responsibility for research on dis-eases that are the primary respon-sibility of other agencies. While such research may be needed, tak-ing the funds from NIMH effec-tively shifts research resources away from mental illnesses to other diseases, the study found.

Whitney Jacobs of Manchester, Conn., who has a family member with mental illness, said research into mental health is tremendously important for anyone who has been touched by the disease.

He said the research NIMH has funded has already proved worth-while, citing studies into Clozapine, which enabled the drug to be pre-scribed in the United States in the late 1980s.

"All I know is they have done very good work," Jacobs said.

Wayne Dailey, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, said there have been tre-mendous benefits from research in the last decade.

"We would encourage the con-tinued emphasis into research. It is highly desirable as a public benefit, and particularly for those who suf-fer from these serious disorders," Dailey said.

The study showed that NIMH actually earmarked more grant money for AIDS research ($60.2 million) than schizophrenia re-search ($57.1 million) in 1997. Meanwhile, clinical research on manic-depressive illness received less than $5 million, panic disorder less than $4 million and obsessive-compulsive disorder just over $2 million, according to the study.

The failure of the institute to fo-cus on its core mission has a pro-found impact on the intensity of research into mental illness, since there are few other grant sources available. The $152 million that NIMH directed at research on se-vere mental illness represented three-quarters of all research dol-lars spent that year on schizophre-nia, manic-depression and severe depression.

"There are more than 5 million Americans with severe mental ill-nesses who are waiting for better treatments. If NIMH does not sup-port the necessary research, these individuals and their families are going to have a long wait indeed," said NAMI Executive Director Laurie Flynn.

Connecticut Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, said he was alarmed by the study.

"It raises some very legitimate concerns that really require the General Accounting Office and Congress to look at," Shays said. "My initial thought is that money is not being maximized and that some studies are on the edge."

Shays said he will ask Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., to consider ex-amining how NIMH is distributing its research dollars. Mica chairs the House Government Affairs sub-committee that oversees the De-partment of Health and Human Services.

"Mental health is a very serious component of health. We have put more funding into all research, and if we are doing that then mental health is an area we need to put into," Shays said.

Dr. Steven Hyman, director of NIMH, defended the agency's ba-sic research and said that the insti-tute is doing better in funding re-search into severe mental illness. It earmarked $260 million of its $743 million grant money this year on severe mental illness research. And, the agency recently budgeted $100 million over five years for four new clinical trials on severe mental illness.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.