These Fueling the Future February graphics offer a different spin on the benefits of mental health clinical research, by providing facts and statistics.

Please feel free to download these to post and share on your platforms.

We’ve created these graphics using the Fueling the Future February branding and ask that you maintain this branding when posting during February. After February, please feel free to modify the graphics to suit your branding.

Beside the images below, there are two links: one to open the image and a Download button, along with some text that you can use with the graphic.

When you post the images, please include a link to the Fueling the Future February page (https://thestarr.org/futurefeb/) so that people can interact with the calendar. Also, please tag the posts with #FuelingTheFutureFebruary so we can like and share your posts!

At the bottom of the page, you’ll find a zipped folder with all of the ‘Did You Know’ graphics. That folder does NOT include the text for each graphic.

If you have any problems or questions, please contact action@thestarr.org.

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Every advance in mental health care—from safer medications to improved therapies—starts with research. It’s how we move beyond trial-and-error, expand options for people who haven’t found relief, and build a future where care continues to improve.

Mental health research doesn’t just advance science—it fuels hope for individuals, families, and communities seeking better answers and better outcomes.

This February, as part of Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why continued investment, awareness, and engagement in mental health research matter now more than ever.

👉 Learn more about how you can support progress: https://thestarr.org/futurefeb/

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch #HopeThroughResearch

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This statistic underscores how deeply mental health intersects with housing instability, access to care, and long-term outcomes. It also highlights why mental health research matters—not just for advancing treatments, but for informing smarter systems of care, earlier intervention, and more effective community responses.

Research helps us better understand serious mental illness, develop treatments that work for more people, and translate evidence into policies and practices that can change lives.

This February, through Fueling the Future February, we’re calling attention to the real-world impact of mental health research—and the urgency of continued investment, awareness, and support.

👉 Learn more about the societal impact and why research is critical: https://sczaction.org/insight-initiative/societal-costs

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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$281.6 Billion.

This figure reflects far more than healthcare expenses. It includes lost productivity, disability, caregiving burden, housing instability, criminal justice system involvement, and premature mortality – costs borne by individuals, families, communities, and systems.

Mental health research is essential to changing this trajectory. Research drives the development of more effective treatments, earlier interventions, and care models that better support long-term stability and recovery. It also provides the evidence needed to inform smarter policy and investment decisions.

During Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why sustained support for mental health research isn’t just a scientific priority—it’s a societal one.

👉 Learn more about the societal impact and why research matters: https://sczaction.org/insight-initiative/societal-costs

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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1 in 7 — This statistic is a powerful reminder that mental health challenges often begin early—and that early understanding, intervention, and innovation matter. Mental health research plays a critical role in identifying risk factors, improving early diagnosis, and developing treatments and care approaches that can change life trajectories.

Investing in research today helps ensure young people and their families have access to better tools, better care, and better outcomes—now and in the future.

As part of Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why continued support for mental health research is essential to meeting the needs of the next generation.

👉 Learn more about the research behind this statistic:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2724377

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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50% of all mental illness begins by age 14.

This statistic highlights a critical window of opportunity. Mental health research plays a vital role in understanding early onset, identifying risk factors, and developing interventions that can change the course of a young person’s life.

When we invest in research, we invest in earlier detection, better treatments, and care models that meet people where they are—before symptoms become more severe or harder to treat.

As part of Fueling the Future February, we’re emphasizing why sustained support for mental health research is essential to building a healthier future for individuals, families, and communities.

👉 Learn more about the research behind this statistic:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15939837/

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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Since schizophrenia symptoms often begin in late adolescence to early adulthood, this means that many individuals are living with a serious mental illness across critical life stages, often requiring lifelong treatment and support. The impact on education, employment, relationships, and overall quality of life can begin early and grow over time.

Mental health research is essential to changing this reality. Research helps us better understand early brain development, improve early identification, and develop treatments and care approaches that support long-term functioning, stability, and recovery.

As part of Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why sustained investment in mental health research matters—especially for conditions that affect people so early in life.

👉 Learn more about the societal impact and why research is critical:
https://sczaction.org/insight-initiative/societal-costs

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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$1 TRILLION: This staggering figure reflects missed workdays, reduced productivity, and the broader ripple effects mental health conditions have on families, workplaces, and economies worldwide. It also underscores a critical truth: mental health is not just a health issue—it’s an economic one.

Mental health research plays a key role in changing this trajectory. Research drives the development of more effective treatments, earlier intervention strategies, and care models that support long-term stability, recovery, and participation in daily life.

As part of Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why continued investment in mental health research is essential—for individuals, families, employers, and communities alike.

👉 Learn more about the data behind this statistic:
https://www.nami.org/mental-health-by-the-numbers/

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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Half improve or achieve remission: This reality highlights both progress and gaps. While research has helped many people achieve stability and improved quality of life, too many individuals still face barriers to consistent, effective care.

Mental health research is essential to closing these gaps. Research helps refine treatments, identify who benefits most from which interventions, and develop care approaches that support long-term continuity—so improvement and remission are possible for more people, not just some.

During Fueling the Future February, we’re underscoring why sustained investment in mental health research is critical to expanding access, improving outcomes, and ensuring progress reaches everyone who needs it.

👉 Learn more about the societal impact and why research matters:
https://sczaction.org/insight-initiative/societal-costs

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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Shorter life expectancy. This disparity reflects more than the illness itself. It is driven by gaps in access to care, co-occurring physical health conditions, social determinants of health, and increased suicide risk. It’s a stark reminder that serious mental illness remains a life-shortening condition for too many people.

Mental health research is essential to changing this outcome. Research helps advance earlier intervention, improve treatments, integrate physical and mental health care, and inform prevention strategies that can save lives and improve long-term quality of life.

During Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why sustained investment in mental health research is critical—not just for better care, but for longer, healthier lives.

👉 Learn more about the societal impact and why research matters:
https://sczaction.org/insight-initiative/societal-costs

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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Only about HALF received treatment. This represents meaningful progress—and it also highlights an important gap. Nearly half of adults living with mental illness still did not receive care. Closing that gap requires more than awareness alone; it requires continued investment in mental health research.

Research helps identify barriers to care, improve treatment effectiveness, expand access, and ensure that mental health services meet people where they are. It’s how we turn data into action and progress into impact.

During Fueling the Future February, we’re highlighting why supporting mental health research is essential to ensuring more people receive timely, effective care.

👉 Learn more about the data behind this statistic:
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt56287/2024-nsduh-annual-national-report.pdf

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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14 times more likely to experience violence than commit it… This statistic challenges harmful misconceptions and highlights a critical reality: people with serious mental illness are often vulnerable to harm, discrimination, and systemic gaps in care—not sources of danger.

Mental health research plays a vital role in changing this narrative and these outcomes. Research helps us understand risk factors, improve access to timely and coordinated care, inform trauma-informed responses, and guide policies that protect—and support—people living with serious mental illness.

As part of Fueling the Future February, we’re lifting up the evidence behind the headlines and reinforcing why continued investment in mental health research is essential for safety, dignity, and better outcomes.

👉 Learn more about the research behind this finding:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3160236/

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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More than one-third of U.S. adults with mental illness also have a substance use disorder – a stat that underscores how interconnected mental health and substance use are and why siloed approaches to care often fall short. People with co-occurring conditions face higher barriers to treatment, increased health risks, and more complex care needs.

Mental health research is critical to improving outcomes for this population. Research helps develop integrated treatment models, identify what works for whom, and ensure care addresses the full picture of a person’s health—not just one diagnosis at a time.

As part of Fueling the Future February, we’re underscoring why continued investment in mental health research is essential to advancing coordinated, evidence-based care.

👉 Learn more about the data behind this statistic:
https://www.nami.org/mental-health-by-the-numbers/

#FuelingTheFutureFebruary #MentalHealthResearch

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