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Rethink Mental Illness calls for tariff on wellness products to fund mental health research

Rethink Mental Illness calls for tariff on wellness products to fund mental health research

01/04/2025

A 25% tariff on miracle cures for mental health could “transform actual, legit, proper-job research” says sensible organisation Rethink Mental Illness

Rethink Mental Illness is today calling for a new tariff on the “well-dodge” products sold to people to help them manage their mental wellbeing.

Implemented today, a dedicated a 25% National Incense (NI) Tax could raise billions a year earmarked to fund research into evidence-based mental health support and treatments.

It was recently reported by the Global Wellness Institute that the global wellness industry is currently worth $6.3 trillion, 26% more than it was pre-pandemic.

That sum makes the billions invested in mental health research look like small change.

Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “Having read about a new therapy where people go riding, carrying heavy, hollow stalks to cure their mental ill-health, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We can’t keep pouring cash into wellness without so much as a downward dog in the direction of funding real, evidence-based treatments.

"I love a punnet of blueberries followed by an ice-cold plunge as much as the next person, but my mood tracking jewellery tells me it is doing little to help bridge the mortality gap for people severely affected by mental illness, who die on average twenty years earlier than the rest of the population.

“Medical research has revolutionised how we treat many conditions, but the mental health research sector has not received the same level of investment and support. Colouring books are excellent while you wait for months on treatment but putting a 25% tariff on miracle cure products, many of which are frankly well-dodge, will help fund legit, proper-job research.”

Historically, research and development around mental health has received much less funding than research into physical illness, in part driven by the stigma and silence around severe mental illness.

The sector has faced a number of challenges; a lack of research capacity in the NHS and declining interest from those with money to invest due to the perception that mental health research is too challenging.

A number of promising treatments and support for people severely affected by mental illness are currently being considered in this country and internationally, ranging from new medications and vagus nerve stimulation to digital treatments and specialised roles in GP surgeries. However, it may be a long time before some are widely available across England.

April Fool’s! Did you work it out? While we aren’t really calling for a tax on incense or indeed any other therapy if it helps people, we wanted to break the silence around a lack of research and investment into new treatments for people severely affected by mental illness, amid the growing noise around self-care and wellness in recent years.

People living with severe mental illness continue to rely on treatments which often come with troubling side effects. We need to see much greater enthusiasm and investment for research into mental health treatment if we are to improve the quality of life for people experiencing mental illness.

FAQs

People living with severe mental illness and their carers have told us that current treatments are often ineffective or come with troubling side effects. They want us to advocate for more evidence-based, effective treatments for mental health conditions.

We recognise that the causes of mental illness are complex, and that treatment alone is often not enough given that social factors such as poor housing, financial insecurity, social isolation and stigma can significantly affect our mental health. Our new focus on research complements our long-standing work to build Communities that Care and tackle the drivers of mental illness.
When we talk about research into new treatments, we are calling for a range of treatment options to be explored, including digital support, devices, and therapies, as well as medication.

Many people find the medications they take help them control their symptoms and enjoy a better quality of life. However, they can also come with challenging side effects.

Ultimately we want everyone living with mental illness to have access to a range of treatment options, so they can find what works best for them.
We remain deeply concerned at lengthy waits for mental health treatment, which is an issue we have highlighted through our public-facing campaigns and our policy work, such as our Right Treatment Right Time report. We recently launched a new campaign calling for the government to prioritise reducing mental health waiting lists. Please click here to email your MP and ask them to raise the issue.

We believe that ensuring access to a wide range of effective treatments would help reduce pressure on mental health services and bring down waiting lists.
With our April Fool’s Day campaign, we wanted to raise the issue that while global wellness companies profit from mental health awareness, research into treatments for severe mental illness remains neglected.

We recognise that alternative treatments and spirituality can help people maintain good mental health, and we encourage people to engage in activities which support them to stay well. We also want to ensure that everyone has access to a range of evidence-based treatments they can use to reduce their symptoms.
Research into new treatments is often a long and complex process. We want to see more investment in research so it can be properly embedded into the health system and lead to the use of new treatments, with the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience throughout the process. Consideration should be given in any research study to how results are fed back, so that participants can understand what the results were and how their data has been used.