Partnering for progress in mental health interventions – Nature Mental Health

The evolution of mental health interventions is a story of shifting, expanding and occasionally converging horizons. Over time, there has been appreciable movement toward humane, evidence-based and person-centered mental health approaches — progress that signals a strong foundation for continued advancement.

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Although global mental health needs are substantial, so too is our collective capacity to respond. Incorporating well-articulated psychological perspectives, brain-based insights and rapid development of sophisticated technology, there is great opportunity to move the state of mental health from crisis to convergence. Too few transformative developments have been realized in recent decades, owing to siloed research disciplines, underinvestment and persistent stigma around mental health. Yet there is also growing societal recognition of the fundamental importance of equity, access to care and effective treatment that is steering the call for more inclusive and impactful solutions. Encouragingly, the vision for improving mental health is increasingly being defined by collaboration, across disciplines and stakeholders, and a shared commitment to improving outcomes.

For much of modern history, mental health interventions were defined less by therapeutic intent or impact than by social control. The mid-twentieth century, however, marked a step change for mental health treatment. The advent of psychopharmacology introduced antidepressants, anxiolytics, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics that could alleviate symptoms with previously unseen efficacy. It was a tectonic shift in shaping the standard of care and emphasizing a biological basis for some forms of serious mental illness, such as depression and psychosis. Crucially, this remains a core component of contemporary mechanistic and treatment frameworks.

Psychiatry research has endeavored to identify the putative neurobiological underpinnings of mental health conditions, primarily to improve diagnosis and in the pursuit of identifying treatment targets. It is a strategy that enabled the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the late 1980s. Although SSRIs have been enormously helpful for some in alleviating symptoms, at least one third of individuals with depression will be classified as resistant to antidepressant treatment, illustrating one of the inherent challenges for treating mental health conditions broadly. Depression is highly prevalent (affecting one in five adults) and highly treatable, but recurrence is the rule. This dual reality of challenge alongside opportunity drives renewed investment in drug discovery and translation in the pursuit of durable pharmacological interventions. It also underscores the need for more holistic and comprehensive approaches that incorporate broader structural factors, such as social determinants of health — poverty, education attainment and discrimination, and access to healthcare — that could be leveraged to reduce the incidence rates, severity and recurrence of mental health conditions.

This movement has led to broadening the scope of mental health interventions in exciting ways. Emerging research is revisiting brain–body interactions, including the role of the gut microbiome, and interventions now routinely incorporate several treatment modalities — for example, noninvasive brain stimulation or psychedelics coupled with psychotherapy. Efforts have been boosted to better meet people where they are, with a strong focus on including individuals who have historically been under-represented in research and who face greater barriers to accessing treatment. Consequently, interventions are increasingly designed beyond traditional clinic and laboratory settings — in schools, communities and the workplace — and are being developed and delivered through digital platforms, providing new ways to tailor treatment and collect data in real time. These emerging frontiers introduce important considerations about equitable access, and how evidence is evaluated, reflecting an evolving approach to achieving transformative change in mental health.

In this spirit, Wellcome and the Nature Portfolio have partnered to launch a new prize in May 2026 aimed at advancing transformative change in mental health: the ‘Wellcome Prize for Mental Health Science with Nature’.

As one of the largest health research funders, Wellcome has made it a mission to target some of the world’s greatest issues, prioritizing mental health. Through its streamlined approach, Wellcome has focused on anxiety, depression and psychosis as its core areas with the greatest potential for making appreciable strides with its support. These mental health conditions, which stem from intertwined biological, psychological and social factors, often present in adolescence and young adulthood, and can contribute to impaired development, comorbidity and long-term disability — highlighting that intervention is not only possible but crucial.

To accelerate the transformative potential of such innovative interventions, Wellcome will award a US$1 million prize to the winning team and US$250,000 each to an additional three finalist teams. Pharmacological, psychological, social or digital interventions are eligible for consideration, but they should be new, in the early stages of implementation, with demonstrable clinical benefit and the potential for scalability. The prize is open to teams from academia, not-for-profit organizations, and small and medium companies.

In line with the mental health science framework, interventions should identify the ‘active ingredients’ or specific mechanisms that underlie clinical outcomes. Documentation of how people with lived experience have been involved during the intervention’s lifecycle, from design to delivery, is strongly encouraged. Entries will be evaluated by an independent international panel that spans academia, industry, policy and editors from Nature, Nature Medicine and Nature Mental Health.

The story of mental health interventions is still unfolding, with each chapter shaped by discovery and increasingly through collaboration and a focus on realizing positive outcomes. Spurring momentum and mapping meaningful advances can and will be achieved through cultivating optimism, forging strong partnerships and commitment to prioritizing evidence, empathy and inclusion.