Everyone is affected by mental illness in some capacity, either directly or through those that we know. Around a quarter of the population experience a mental health condition each year and this high prevalence has considerable repercussions, both socially and economically. Indeed, many would be surprised to hear that on top of obvious human suffering, mental illness is estimated to cost the UK an eye-watering £105 billion a year once healthcare expenses and lost productivity have been taken into account.

With mental illness disrupting the lives of so many and harming the economy to such an extent, I was genuinely surprised to hear of the funding gap that exists in mental health research. Compared to other diseases that place a similar burden on society, publicly funded research into mental health is disproportionately low. Cancer research provides some of the strongest evidence of this effect, receiving around 20% of total UK research expenditure, almost four times more than the amount invested…