This timely volume analyzes the growing burden of mental, behavioral and social problems in low-income countries, examines the sources of the substantial morbidity rates and their relation to development, and assesses current efforts to cope with them. It identifies opportunities for effective mental health interventions, methods of treatment, culturally appropriate prevention programs, and sound policy formation. It relates the mental health consequences of violence, dislocation, poverty, and the disenfranchisement of women to the most pressing economic, political, and environmental problems of our time.
Industry Reviews
"This Report puts the issue of mental health and well-being firmly on the international agenda. It reminds us of the great human suffering caused by mental illness....Let us, therefore, respond to this World Mental Health Report not simply by blessing it; let us take its recommendations, and act on them."--Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General of the United Nations,
"The most comprehensive and authoritative statement to date on the state of mental and behavioral problems around the globe. Guided by a distinguished international editorial board drawn from many countries, the authors have culled essential information from public health and scientific reports published in world literature and from papers prepared by individuals knowledgeable about the nature and magnitude of these problems in their countries and about efforts
to address them."--Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, from the Foreword
"A valuable and much-needed complement to current and recent publications on mental health in developed countries, and updates and expands economic interpretations of mental health in development."--S.G. Lurie, University of North Texas
"This Report puts the issue of mental health and well-being firmly on the international agenda. It reminds us of the great human suffering caused by mental illness. It describes a disability that can afflict individuals and whole communities. Stress, trauma, rapid social change and family disruption are all involved. This Report tell us that such suffering in many cases can be prevented....Our objective is to promote the mental health and well-being of all the
inhabitants of the planet. Let us, therefore, respond to this World Mental Health Report not simply by blessing it; let us take its recommendations, and act on them."--Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary
General of the United Nations, upon the formal release of World Mental Health
"This book is a call to action to improve the mental health of people throughout the world. The authors provide scholarly documentation of the epidemiology, anthropology, and consequences of the major mental health and behavioral problems that form an increasing part of the health burden around the world....The book is carefully written and carefully documented, with extensive notes and references."--The New England Journal of Medicine
"An important book for participants in international policy discussions about world mental health....Represents the first systematic attempt to develop a forum to discuss these world mental health problems, in which physical and mental health, social well-being, economic development, international security, and human rights are interrelated....The editors are internationally known authorities."--Doody's Health Sciences Book Review
"The book is an organizational jewel....Performs the invaluable service of alerting us to the myriad risk populations worldwide and to their enormous, underappreciated burden of psychiatric disorder and psychological distress."--American Journal of Public Health
"Remarkable...World Mental Health is one of the very important books on mental health to appear during this decade. It should be read by all health professionals, particularly those involved in planning health services."--Psychiatric Services
"World Mental Health offers any psychiatrist...the necessary groundwork and the orientation to tackle complex problems....A reference work for any scholar involved in mental health care and a technical instrument for personnel working in public offices..."--Transcultural Psychiatry
"The first systematic attempt to survey the burden of suffering related to clusters of problems in mental, social, and behavioral health."--Future Survey
