Department of Psychology, Michigan State University

Principal Investigator: Henry (Raffles) Cowan, PhD

From 1999 to 2024, federal mental health research funding doubled to $4.2 billion and mental health service use increased from 7% to 11.3%, while rates of mental illness diagnosis (20.6%), serious mental illness diagnosis (5.2%), depression symptoms (21.4%), and anxiety symptoms (18.4%) reached all-time highs, and the proportion of Americans reporting “excellent” mental health dropped from 43% to 31%.

Why are we getting such a poor return on investment in mental health research and treatment?

The Problem

Mental illness exists in the lives of individual people—not only in the brain, body, mind, family, life history, or society, but in all of these, all at once. An illness cannot be separated from the life of the person affected by it.

Most people living with serious mental illness (89%) think research and treatment should focus on the whole person: improving overall well-being and quality of life. Yet most existing research (87%) focuses on reducing symptoms.

To resolve this disconnect, we must study not only mental illness, but also the people who live with mental illness.

Our Person-Centered Mission

By exploring the individuality of the person behind a mental illness, we form a richer understanding of both the individual and their illness. This individualized perspective builds a foundation for personalized risk assessment, prevention, and treatment.

Learn more about our research

Meet the Team