3012 – Research Networks in Spain and Cibersam

Abstract

Mental disorders as a whole are the leading cause of disability worldwide. It is estimated that over 5 million people in Spain suffer from any of these disorders throughout his life. The importance of mental disorders in today's society is enormous. In fact, in the EU mental health spending ranges between 3% and 4% of GDP, mental disorders being the leading cause of early retirement and disability pensions. In addition, mental illness poses a heavy burden, not only economically, but also socially, in the form of personal and family cost. With a mission to improve clinical care and overall mental health of our society through an increasing of translational research generated knowledge in the field of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, on 1 January 2008 the Center for Biomedical Research Network on Mental Health Area (CIBERSAM) was established. Since then, a fruitful network has been created, and its organization and procedures will be shown in this presentation.