“People stop dead in their tracks when I tell them that the impacts of loneliness on our health are as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The body keeps the score.”
For Professor Simon Gilbody, mental health isn't just a medical challenge - it’s a societal emergency.
Depression is the leading cause of global disability, costing the UK economy alone nearly £118 billion a year.
Yet, as Simon notes, “research into mental health is miniscule compared to other conditions.”
Simon and his team at York are changing that narrative by focusing on one key principle: scalability. “We want to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people,” Simon explains. “That's a very 'York-thing'. We examine the causes and look for practical solutions that work for the population, not just the individual.”
This philosophy was put to the test during the pandemic.
“A defining moment came during the dark days of COVID,” he recalls. “We were deeply worried about the impacts of social isolation... in partnership with the NHS, we moved at speed and did something that no one else could.”
That “something” was the BASIL+ trial - the largest trial ever undertaken of a psychological approach to target loneliness. It proved that simple, structured telephone coaching could reduce emotional loneliness by 21%, while also preventing depression and improving quality of life.
This research has now evolved into Third Age Therapeutics (ThirdAgeTx), the University's first mental health spin-out company, designed to roll out these evidence-based “talking therapies” to the NHS and beyond.
“Someone once described depression as 'malignant sadness',” says Simon. “We have a long way to go, but we are proving that we can prevent it.”
For two years running Professor Gilbody has been recognised in the global top 1% of most cited scientists.
