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MEDIA ADVISORY

Treatment Advocacy Center

and

Public Citizen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 13, 2003	CONTACT:	Shannon Little, PC, (202) 588-7742 Alicia Aebersold, TAC, (703) 294-6008 Angela Bradbery, PC (202) 588-7741

Federal agency responsible for mental health research gives short shrift to serious mental illnesses

New report shows failure to fund essential research

WHAT:	Press conference to release report showing the continuing failure of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to sufficiently fund meaningful research of serious mental illnesses.

The Treatment Advocacy Center and Public Citizen have found that the NIMH allocates only a small portion of its research grants to scientific research into serious mental illnesses – bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and severe forms of depression – in spite of the millions of Americans who suffer from these illnesses and their enormous economic and social costs. From 1997-2002, the NIMH rejected funding for many promising research proposals on serious mental illnesses and instead funded much research on topics that had no relationship at all to these brain diseases, such as pre-schoolers’ conception of love and characteristics of sleep in insects. Although the NIMH budget doubled during those years, the proportion of money spent on researching mental illness declined significantly.

WHEN:	11 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 19

WHO:	E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., lead author, president of the board, Treatment Advocacy Center Mary Zdanowicz, executive director, Treatment Advocacy Center Jon Stanley, assistant director, Treatment Advocacy Center, has bipolar disorder Sidney Wolfe, M.D., director, Public Citizen's Health Research Group

WHERE:	Public Citizen 1600 20th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. (The office is located at the northwest corner of Q and 20th Streets, N.W.)

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The Treatment Advocacy Center (www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. TAC promotes laws, policies, and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Public Citizen is a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

ADDITIONAL INFO
NIMH's failure to support sufficient research on severe mental illnesses | consequences of lack of treatment
about the Treatment Advocacy Center | full bio of Dr. Torrey with photo

Treatment Advocacy Center

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