Nova Scotia study seeks ways to predict, prevent mental illness in young people

A Nova Scotia researcher is working on a study that aims to find ways to predict and prevent mental illnesses such as anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in young people.

Dr. Rudolf Uher is the principal investigator for the Families Overcoming Risks and Building Opportunities for Well-Being (FORBOW) study. The work began in 2013 but Uher said there's still a lot of work to be done. 

"I knew from the beginning we'll need to be working on this for 10 years or longer to really make a difference," he said from his office in Halifax's QEII Health Sciences Centre.

FORBOW focuses on early intervention to potentially prevent mental illness in young people. There has been research done in that area but Uher said, typically, that means working with people in the age range of 18 to 20. 

"What we're trying to do, probably for the first time in FORBOW, is to go way early," he said. 

Uher's team works with families with children ranging from infants to 24-year-olds. On average, the 317 young people in the study are in their early teens.

"The idea is we may be able to make much bigger change if we start early. And the indications are positive. The indications are, yes we can," he said.  

"They did it for Dad"

Nick Peters' family has been on board the FORBOW study from the beginning, when he and his son and daughter registered as family number five. 

Peters has bipolar disorder, which he was diagnosed with at the age of 21 after a manic episode. That's one reason the Halifax accountant wanted his family to participate in research looking at diagnosing and treating mental disorders. 

"I think they didn't really know a lot about it. They just knew that it was something that was important for me," he said. 

"They did it for Dad, more than they did it for understanding the bigger picture. And I think clearly, over the last number of years that they've been involved with the program, they get the bigger picture."

His children started in the study at 13 and 14 by playing puzzles and games with researchers, and in his daughter's case by getting a brain scan. Now at 17 and 19, they continue to do annual assessments to track their development.

Peters has had other episodes of bipolar disorder over the years, including one when his children were in elementary school, so he was careful to explain to his children what was happening.

"They lived it. As children do, they asked questions, and I think there was never a point when there was hiding information about what was going on," he said. 

"Then the last five years have been very challenging in terms of managing my health, when I've been hospitalized four or five times over the last five years. So they've had some real, lived experience over the last five years.

"Now they get the bigger picture that research is important because there's a lot that we don't understand about mental illness, and we need to learn more."

Five more years

Uher believes his team is closing in on some of the answers the Peters family wants to know.

Last year, FORBOW received federal funding of $1.2 million, which will fund most of the next five years of research. In the fall, Uher's work was also recognized with the $100,000 Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize, given annually to a Canadian researcher. Continuing funding was a "relief" for Uher. 

"This is massive," he said. "Because starting a new project is a really nerve-wracking time. At the present, it's so difficult to obtain resources for research. And when we were planning this, it only makes sense to do it if we can carry on long term." 

Uher said his team's research has already led them to predict the incidence of mental illness with 10 times more accuracy than a random sample of children.

They hope to soon start a phase of the study that examines how anxiety in parents could influence children as young as three. 

The FORBOW team is still hoping to accept hundreds more study participants to broaden the scope of the study.

"I know that we'll be able to complete something that's meaningful. We'll be able to give answers," Uher said.