scholarly journals Global Mental Health: concepts, conflicts and controversies

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Whitley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Colonial Medicine ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Intervention Delivery

This paper introduces, describes and analyses the emerging concept of Global Mental Health (GMH). The birth of GMH can be traced to London, 2007, with the publication of a series of high-profile papers inThe Lancet. Since then, GMH has developed into a movement with proponents, adherents, opponents, an ideology and core activities. The stated aims of the Movement for GMH are ‘to improve services for people living with mental health problems and psychosocial disabilities worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries where effective services are often scarce’. GMH could be considered an attempt to right a historic wrong. During the colonial and post-colonial eras, the mental health of subject populations was accorded a very low priority. This was fuelled by scientific racism, which alleged that mental illness was uncommon in places such as Africa. As developing nations have made the epidemiological transition, the burden of mental illness has proportionately increased, with research suggesting a massive ‘treatment gap’ between those in need and those actually receiving formal mental health care. As such, much GMH research and action has been devoted to: (i) the identification and scale-up of cost-effective evidence-supported interventions that could be made more widely available; (ii) task-shifting of such intervention delivery to mental-health trained non-specialist Lay Health Workers. GMH has come under sustained critique. Critics suggest that GMH is colonial medicine come full circle, involving the top-down imposition of Western psychiatric models and solutions by Western-educated elites. These critiques suggest that GMH ignores the various indigenous modalities of healing present in non-Western cultures, which may be psychologically adaptive and curative. Relatedly, critics argue that GMH could be an unwitting Trojan horse for the mass medicalisation of people in developing countries, paving the way for exploitation by Big Pharma, while ignoring social determinants of health.

scholarly journals Effective Treatment Interventions for Global Mental Health: An Analysis of Biomedical and Psychosocial Approaches in Use Today

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 01-14
Author(s):  
Michael Galvin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Psychosocial Treatment ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
The Right ◽  
Psychosocial Approaches

We are in an important moment for mental health treatment around the world, as many Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) – representing an increasing majority of the world’s population – are currently developing and scaling up services for the first time. Yet, research on Global Mental Health (GMH) best practices remains scattered and difficult to synthesize. This review aims to simplify existing GMH research on effective biomedical and psychosocial treatment approaches from both high-income countries and LMICs to enable a more comprehensive understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of existing interventions, based on the highest quality, up-to-date research. By understanding which treatments are most effective and why, we can begin to not only implement more effective practices, but guide the future of GMH research in the right directions. The purpose of this review is therefore to understand mental illness, what it is, how it was treated in the past, how it manifests differently around the globe, and how to best treat it. Ultimately, while psychosocial approaches are advised for patients with more mild to moderate disorders, medications and other biomedical approaches are recommended increasingly only for more severe cases. While significant evidence exists to justify the use of psychotropic medications for mental illness, their adverse effects indicate that psychosocial approaches should be prioritized as first line treatments, particularly for mild to moderate disorders. As one of the first to analyze this research, this review is useful not only for GMH scholars, but for practitioners and public health workers globally, as well.

Global psychiatry

2017 ◽  
pp. 674-680
Author(s):  
Paul Harrison ◽  
Philip Cowen ◽  
Tom Burns ◽  
Mina Fazel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Humanitarian Emergencies ◽  
Psychiatric Illnesses ◽  
Aids Pandemic

‘Global psychiatry’ discusses the global mental health movement. Across the globe, and especially in low- and middle-income settings, there is a high prevalence of untreated psychiatric illness. In lower resourced settings there is often the need to address the added influence of poverty. The chapter discusses the question of how to scale up services and models, including using lay mental health workers and also integration of mental health care into primary health care settings to better meet the needs of those suffering from psychiatric illnesses across the globe. Four areas are discussed in more detail—the HIV/AIDS pandemic, perinatal mental illness, child and adolescent mental health, and humanitarian emergencies.

scholarly journals Global mental health in high-income countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 209 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Sashidharan ◽  
Ross White ◽  
Roberto Mezzina ◽  
Stefan Jansen ◽  
Darius Gishoma
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
High Income ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Poor Countries

SummaryOver the past decade there have been significant efforts to scale-up mental health services in resource-poor countries. A number of cost-effective innovations have emerged as a result. At the same time, there is increasing concern in resource-rich countries about efficacy, efficiency and acceptability of mental health services. We consider two specific innovations used widely in low- and middle-income countries, task-sharing and a development model of mental healthcare, that we believe have the potential to address some of the current challenges facing mental health services in high-income countries.

scholarly journals The future of psychiatry

10.17816/cp63 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
Norman Sartorius
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Adequate Treatment

Since the Second World War mental health programmes and psychiatry have made significant advances. Countries, as well as the United Nations, have recognized the magnitude and severity of mental health problems, and numerous national programmes have been launched to deal with them. Technology relating to the treatment of mental disorders has advanced and significant progress has been made in terms of knowledge regarding the functioning of the brain. The awareness of the need to protect the human rights of those with mental illness has increased. National and regional programmes against stigma and the consequent discrimination of those with mental illness, have been launched in many countries. Associations bringing together those who have experienced mental illness and their relatives, have come into existence in many countries. While these are great steps forward, more work is necessary to complete these advances. In low- and middle-income countries, the vast majority of people with mental disorders do not receive adequate treatment. Even in highly industrialized countries, a third of people with severe forms of mental illness are not receiving the appropriate therapy. Laws concerning mental health are outdated in many countries. The protection of the human rights of the mentally ill is incomplete and imperfect. The emphasis on economic gain and the digitalization of medicine in recent years has not helped. On occasions, this has even slowed down the development of mental health services, and the provision of mental healthcare. Thus, psychiatry must still deal with the challenges of the past century, while facing new demands and tasks. Among the new tasks for psychiatry are undoubtedly reforms which will allow (i) the provision of appropriate care of people with comorbid mental and physical disorders, (ii) the application of interventions leading to the primary prevention of mental and neurological disorders, and (iii) a radical reform of the education of psychiatrists and other mental health workers, dealing with mental illness. Collaboration with other stakeholders in the field of mental health and medicine, will be of crucial importance in relation to all these tasks.

scholarly journals Related Health Service Provider with Mental Health during Pregnancy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (T2) ◽  
pp. 188-191
Author(s):  
Nurul Husnul Lail ◽  
Rizanda Machmud ◽  
Adnil Edwin ◽  
Yusrawati Yusrawati ◽  
Anwar Mallongi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Independent Practice ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

BACKGROUND: Mental illness or mental health problems during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries are very high; the average prevalence reaches 15.6%. Subsequent research was conducted by Indian in the Jakarta and Bogor regions in the period January–June 2018 regarding the incidence of perinatal depression by 23.6% in the Bogor. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the mental illness or mental health problems during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: This research is qualitative research. This research was conducted in January–June 2019 in the Bogor independent practice midwife. Informants in the study came from the East Jakarta Health Office, Chair of the Indonesian Midwives Association, Head of the Health Center, Coordinating Midwives, Pregnant Women and husbands, and families of pregnant women. Data are analyzed by Regression Logistic. RESULTS: Construction model mental health of mothers during pregnancy in independent practice midwives is very important and needs attention. Pregnancy is still considered a physical change that needs to be intervened because it is easier to handle and easily detects it. Maternal examination during pregnancy is carried out by midwives, in the implementation of mental health checks during pregnancy for pregnant women, this role has not all been carried out optimally. CONCLUSION: This research suggests conducting socialization with midwives as well as across-related sectors to get political support in carrying out activities in health facilities and independent practice midwives.

scholarly journals Brain drain: a challenge to global mental health

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 61-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bibilola D. Oladeji ◽  
Oye Gureje
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Brain Drain ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Psychiatric Training ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income

The brain drain of medical professionals from lower-income to higher-income countries contributes to the current inequity that characterises access to mental healthcare by those in need across the world and hinders efforts to scale up mental health services in resource-constrained settings, especially in Nigeria and other West African countries. The migration of skilled workers is driven by a combination of the globalisation of the labour market and the ability of highly resourced countries to attract and retain specialists from poorer countries. If we are to ameliorate the worldwide shortage of mental health professionals, we need to find innovative ways of attracting young doctors into psychiatric training in all countries. We must also introduce measures to improve health worker retention in low- and middle-income countries.

scholarly journals Implementing Evidence-Based Mental Health Care in Low-Resource Settings: A Focus on Safety Planning Procedures

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K. Murray ◽  
Stephanie Skavenski ◽  
Judith Bass ◽  
Holly Wilcox ◽  
Paul Bolton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mental Health Systems ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Safety Issues

Despite advances in global mental health evidence and policy recommendations, the uptake of evidence-based practices (EBP) in low- and middle-income countries has been slow. Lower resource settings have several challenges, such as limited trained personnel, lack of government resources set aside for mental health, poorly developed mental health systems, and inadequate child protection services. Given these inherent challenges, a possible barrier to implementation of EBP is how to handle safety risks such as suicide, intimate partner violence (IPV), and/or abuse. Safety issues are prevalent in populations with mental health problems and often overlooked and/or underreported. This article briefly reviews common safety issues such as suicide, IPV, and child abuse and proposes the use of certain implementation strategies which could be helpful in creating locally appropriate safety protocols. This article lays out steps and examples of how to create a safety protocol and describes and presents data on safety cases from three different studies. Discussion includes specific challenges and future directions, focusing on implementation.

scholarly journals Reflections on the next ten years of research, policy and implementation in global mental health

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crick Lund
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
World Health Report ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Health Report

Abstract Since the World Health Report 2001 focused on mental health for the first time, the field of global mental health has seen unprecedented growth in policy commitments and research. Yet many challenges remain, including a lack of substantial new financial investments from governments, ongoing human rights abuses suffered by people living with mental illness, weak health systems in low resource settings and large gaps in our knowledge regarding aetiology, prevention of mental illness and mental health promotion. Stark inequalities persist between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in research knowledge and service resources. This editorial sets out to reflect on progress to date, and suggest priorities and possible future trends for research, policy and service implementation, especially in LMIC.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document