Support federal, state, and local policy and policymakers that champion mental health and mental health research.

Supporting local, state, and national policy that advocates for mental health research raises public and policy-maker awareness about the importance of mental health research, both federally funded research and research conducted by private sector companies. It means advocating for policies that promote a robust research enterprise in the U.S.

Here are some things you can do right now to promote mental health research:

Learn about some of the health care reform bills introduced in Congress, specific to mental health policy:

• Overall Health Care Reform Legislation: Lower Health Care Costs Act
  • Prevention for All: RISE (Resilience Investment, Support, and Expansion) from Trauma Act
  • Early Identification and Intervention for Those at Risk: Mental Health Services for Students Act
  • Integrated Treatment for Those who Need It:
    • Mental Health Parity Compliance Act of 2019
    • Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act
    • Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act
  • Recovery as the Goal: Medicaid Reentry Act (amends title XIX of the Social Security Act to allow for medical assistance under Medicaid for inmates during the 30-day period preceding release from a public institution)

Become an advocate in your state to push mental health up the public agenda and change government policy for the better.

• Write, email, call, or visit your congressional and Senate representatives and urge them to make mental health research a higher national priority
  • To find your state’s representatives, go here or here
  • Research America offers great advice on contacting your state officials here

Sign up with NAMI’s advocacy group to support and join campaigns that support mental health research.

NAMI maintains a list of petitions, form letters on specific issues and legislation, and emails that you can use to add your voice to help move mental health research in the right direction.  It is easy to sign up and select the area where you want to focus your voice. Sign up here and review the available letters and petitions that you can act on right now.

Advance Patient-Focused Drug Development.

Patient-focused drug development is a systematic approach to help ensure that patients’ experiences, perspectives, needs, and priorities are captured and meaningfully incorporated into drug development and evaluation. As experts in what it is like to live with their condition, patients are uniquely positioned to inform the understanding of the therapeutic context for drug development and evaluation.

The FDA is developing a series of four methodological patient-focused drug (PFDD) guidance documents and is open to input from the public.  For information and to provide feedback, visit the FDA PFDD website here and here.

Sign petitions that advocate for mental health research funding and support

As part of this National Call to Action, we have created two petitions on Change.org. Please take a moment to sign these petitions to help support mental health research:

• Petition to Increase Funding for Mental Health Research (link when posted online)
• Petition to Support National Promotion of Mental Health Clinical Research as a Care Option (link when posted online)

Some other petitions to support mental health research include these:

• Better Funding for Mental Health Research
• Ask Congress to fund Mental Health Research
• Increase research into mental health conditions

Write petitions that advocate for mental health research funding and support.

Petitions can be very simple and have great impact.   Both Change.org and Moveon.org have simple processes and guides to help build your campaign.  Some examples of petitions to support mental health research can be found below:

• Moveon.org campaign guide
  • Change.org campaign guide
  • Increase Funding for Borderline Personality Disorder Research at NIMH
  • Rescue Mental Health Funding
  • Mental Health Reform