Sociocultural Issues in Psychiatry

Download Sociocultural Issues in Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190849991
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sociocultural Issues in Psychiatry by : Nhi-Ha T. Trinh

Download or read book Sociocultural Issues in Psychiatry written by Nhi-Ha T. Trinh and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the demographics shift within the US population, the importance of culture on mental health diagnosis and treatment has become critical for education and clinical training in psychiatry. While it's impossible to gain an in-depth understanding of every culture, clinicians need to have the skills and knowledge required to provide culturally respectful care for an increasingly diverse clinical population. By explaining fundamental concepts in cultural psychiatry using a case-based format, clinicians and educators in the mental health fields will be able to reduce cultural clashes and unproductive clinical encounters. Although similar books have focused on providing guidelines for working with discrete populations (e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, LGBTQ), the purpose of Sociocultural Issues in Psychiatry is to enhance clinicians' knowledge and skills by translating theory into practice across diverse patient populations and clinical contexts. Mental health clinicians at all levels, trainees, or practitioners, will benefit from the content and education provided in this book.

Culture and Mental Health

Download Culture and Mental Health PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1444305816
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (443 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Culture and Mental Health by : Sussie Eshun

Download or read book Culture and Mental Health written by Sussie Eshun and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-11 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Culture and Mental Health takes a critical look at theresearch pertaining to common psychological disorders, examininghow mental health can be studied from and vary according todifferent cultural perspectives. Introduces students to the main topics and issues in the areaof mental health using culture as the focus Emphasizes issues that pertain to conceptualization,perception, health-seeking behaviors, assessment, diagnosis, andtreatment in the context of cultural variations Reviews and actively encourages the reader to consider issuesrelated to reliability, validity and standardization of commonlyused psychological assessment instruments among different culturalgroups Highlights the widely used DSM-IV-TR categorization ofculture-bound syndromes

Mental Health

Download Mental Health PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Mental Health by :

Download or read book Mental Health written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Essential Psychiatry

Download Essential Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139473654
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Essential Psychiatry by : Robin M. Murray

Download or read book Essential Psychiatry written by Robin M. Murray and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-09-18 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a major international textbook for psychiatrists and other professionals working in the field of mental healthcare. With contributions from opinion-leaders from around the globe, this book will appeal to those in training as well as to those further along the career path seeking a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of effective clinical practice backed by research evidence. The book is divided into cohesive sections moving from coverage of the tools and skills of the trade, through descriptions of the major psychiatric disorders and on to consider special topics and issues surrounding service organization. The final important section provides a comprehensive review of treatments covering all of the major modalities. Previously established as the Essentials of Postgraduate Psychiatry, this new and completely revised edition is the only book to provide this depth and breadth of coverage in an accessible, yet authoritative manner.

The Social Determinants of Mental Health

Download The Social Determinants of Mental Health PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN 13 : 1585625175
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (856 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Social Determinants of Mental Health by : Michael T. Compton

Download or read book The Social Determinants of Mental Health written by Michael T. Compton and published by American Psychiatric Pub. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Social Determinants of Mental Health aims to fill the gap that exists in the psychiatric, scholarly, and policy-related literature on the social determinants of mental health: those factors stemming from where we learn, play, live, work, and age that impact our overall mental health and well-being. The editors and an impressive roster of chapter authors from diverse scholarly backgrounds provide detailed information on topics such as discrimination and social exclusion; adverse early life experiences; poor education; unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity; income inequality, poverty, and neighborhood deprivation; food insecurity; poor housing quality and housing instability; adverse features of the built environment; and poor access to mental health care. This thought-provoking book offers many beneficial features for clinicians and public health professionals: Clinical vignettes are included, designed to make the content accessible to readers who are primarily clinicians and also to demonstrate the practical, individual-level applicability of the subject matter for those who typically work at the public health, population, and/or policy level. Policy implications are discussed throughout, designed to make the content accessible to readers who work primarily at the public health or population level and also to demonstrate the policy relevance of the subject matter for those who typically work at the clinical level. All chapters include five to six key points that focus on the most important content, helping to both prepare the reader with a brief overview of the chapter's main points and reinforce the "take-away" messages afterward. In addition to the main body of the book, which focuses on selected individual social determinants of mental health, the volume includes an in-depth overview that summarizes the editors' and their colleagues' conceptualization, as well as a final chapter coauthored by Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States, that serves as a "Call to Action," offering specific actions that can be taken by both clinicians and policymakers to address the social determinants of mental health. The editors have succeeded in the difficult task of balancing the individual/clinical/patient perspective and the population/public health/community point of view, while underscoring the need for both groups to work in a unified way to address the inequities in twenty-first century America. The Social Determinants of Mental Health gives readers the tools to understand and act to improve mental health and reduce risk for mental illnesses for individuals and communities. Students preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will also benefit from this book, as the MCAT in 2015 will test applicants' knowledge of social determinants of health. The social determinants of mental health are not distinct from the social determinants of physical health, although they deserve special emphasis given the prevalence and burden of poor mental health.

Sociocultural Roots of Mental Illness

Download Sociocultural Roots of Mental Illness PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1468424335
Total Pages : 350 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (684 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sociocultural Roots of Mental Illness by : J. Schwab

Download or read book Sociocultural Roots of Mental Illness written by J. Schwab and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the past decade and more, American psychiatry has been at sea on the adventurous if uncontrolled odyssey of community psychiatry. The voyage has often coursed through uncharted oceans, and for many the purpose and destination of the journey have been obscure. Even among those whose sights are clearer, there is growing concern that the ship will be becalmed by inadequate funding or run aground on the shoals of bureaucratic anarchy. For all of these voyagers this volume should come as a welcome compass. The authors' review of their subject is encyclopedic. They have not only traced the origins of modem concepts and studies back to their historical roots, but have drawn their material widely from the work of investigators throughout the world to illustrate current trends and prob lems. The novice will find their discussion of epidemiology a clearly written and useful introduction to one of the scientific foundations of social psychiatry, and novice and expert alike can profit from their thoughtful and critical assessment of basic terms and concepts, including illuminating chapters on stress, genetics, psychophysiologic disorders, and cultural psychiatry. The volume ends on a personal note as the authors present their views of the current state of social psychiatry and suggest ways in which its theoretical structure might be strengthened. Too often the plight of the individual is overlooked in the concern with impersonal numbers and surveys that preoccupy epidemiologists and social scientists.

Social (In)Justice and Mental Health

Download Social (In)Justice and Mental Health PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN 13 : 1615373381
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (153 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Social (In)Justice and Mental Health by : Ruth S. Shim, M.D., M.P.H.

Download or read book Social (In)Justice and Mental Health written by Ruth S. Shim, M.D., M.P.H. and published by American Psychiatric Pub. This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Social (In)Justice and Mental Health introduces readers to the concept of social justice and role that social injustice plays in the identification, diagnosis, and management of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Unfair and unjust policies and practices, bolstered by deep-seated beliefs about the inferiority of some groups, has led to a small number of people having tremendous advantages, freedoms, and opportunities, while a growing number are denied those liberties and rights. The book provides a framework for thinking about why these inequities exist and persist and provides clinicians with a road map to address these inequalities as they relate to racism, the criminal justice system, and other systems and diagnoses. Social (In)Justice and Mental Health addresses the context in which mental health care is delivered, strategies for raising consciousness in the mental health profession, and ways to improve treatment while redressing injustice"--

Approaches to Cross-Cultural Psychiatry

Download Approaches to Cross-Cultural Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501742752
Total Pages : 438 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Approaches to Cross-Cultural Psychiatry by : Jane M. Murphy

Download or read book Approaches to Cross-Cultural Psychiatry written by Jane M. Murphy and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-30 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From specialists in several disciplines—psychiatry, general medicine, anthropology, sociology, and social work—the editors of this volume have assembled reports on a search for ways of identifying mentally ill people in other cultures and of determining what kinds of sociocultural factors influence the origin, course, and outcome of psychiatric disorders. The contributors have approached the subject through reviews of the literature, seminar discussions, and exploratory field studies carried out in Nova Scotia and among Eskimos, Navahos, and Mexicans. The book provides a methodological approach to important issues and problems in an area in which there is as yet only limited and uncertain knowledge. It will be useful to psychiatrists and epidemiologists working outside their own cultures, to psychologists and anthropologists, and as a handbook for specialists in mental health.

Cultural Formulation

Download Cultural Formulation PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Jason Aronson
ISBN 13 : 9780765704894
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (48 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cultural Formulation by : Juan E. Mezzich

Download or read book Cultural Formulation written by Juan E. Mezzich and published by Jason Aronson. This book was released on 2008 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The publication of the Cultural Formulation Outline in the DSM-IV represented a significant event in the history of standard diagnostic systems. It was the first systematic attempt at placing cultural and contextual factors as an integral component of the diagnostic process. The year was 1994 and its coming was ripe since the multicultural explosion due to migration, refugees, and globalization on the ethnic composition of the U.S. population made it compelling to strive for culturally attuned psychiatric care. Understanding the limitations of a dry symptomatological approach in helping clinicians grasp the intricacies of the experience, presentation, and course of mental illness, the NIMH Group on Culture and Diagnosis proposed to appraise, in close collaboration with the patient, the cultural framework of the patient's identity, illness experience, contextual factors, and clinician-patient relationship, and to narrate this along the lines of five major domains. By articulating the patient's experience and the standard symptomatological description of a case, the clinician may be better able to arrive at a more useful understanding of the case for clinical care purposes. Furthermore, attending to the context of the illness and the person of the patient may additionally enhance understanding of the case and enrich the database from which effective treatment can be planned. This reader is a rich collection of chapters relevant to the DSM-IV Cultural Formulation that covers the Cultural Formulation's historical and conceptual background, development, and characteristics. In addition, the reader discusses the prospects of the Cultural Formulation and provides clinical case illustrations of its utility in diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Book jacket.

Clinical Manual of Cultural Psychiatry

Download Clinical Manual of Cultural Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN 13 : 1585625442
Total Pages : 632 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (856 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Clinical Manual of Cultural Psychiatry by : Russell F. Lim

Download or read book Clinical Manual of Cultural Psychiatry written by Russell F. Lim and published by American Psychiatric Pub. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The interaction of culture and mental illness is the focus of the Clinical Manual of Cultural Psychiatry, which is designed to help mental health clinicians become culturally competent and skilled in the treatment of patients from diverse backgrounds. The product of nearly two decades of seminar experience, the book teaches clinicians when it is appropriate to ask "Is what I am seeing in this patient typical behavior in his or her culture?" The ability to see someone else's worldview is essential for working with ethnic minority and culturally diverse patients, and the author, who designed the course that was this handbook's precursor, has expanded the second edition to take into account shifting demographics and the changing culture of mental health treatment. The content of the new edition has been completely updated, expanded to include new material, and enhanced by innovative features that will prove helpful for mental health clinicians as they encounter diverse patient populations. The new chapter on women reflects the fact that mental health disparities extend beyond ethnic minorities. Women have significantly higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder and affective disorders, for example, yet research on women has been limited largely to the relationship between reproductive functioning and mental health. Two new chapters address the alarming number of unmet mental health needs that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients suffer from. These chapters emphasize the need for mental health providers and policy makers to remedy these disparities. A new chapter has been added to help clinicians determine the role religious and spiritual beliefs play in psychological functioning, because religious and spiritual beliefs have been found to have both positive and negative effects on mental health. The newly introduced DSM-5® Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) is addressed in the book's introduction and is included in its entirety, along with an informant module, 12 supplementary modules, and guidelines for their use in a psychiatric assessment. In addition, the reader has access to videotaped examples using simulated patients to illustrate practical application of the DSM-5® Outline for Cultural Formulation and CFI. Extensive information on ethnopsychopharmacology, reviewing clinical reports of ethnic variation with several different classes of psychotropic medications and examining the relationship of pharmacogenetics, ethnicity, and environmental factors to pharmacologic treatment of minorities. The book updates coverage of African American, Asian American, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American/Alaskan Native cultures as they relate to mental health issues while retaining the nuanced approach that was so effective in the first edition. Course-tested and DSM-5® compatible throughout, the Clinical Manual of Cultural Psychiatry is a must-read for clinicians in our diverse era.

A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health

Download A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521491940
Total Pages : 735 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (214 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health by : Teresa L. Scheid

Download or read book A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health written by Teresa L. Scheid and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 735 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second edition of A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health provides a comprehensive review of the sociology of mental health. Chapters by leading scholars and researchers present an overview of historical, social and institutional frameworks. Part I examines social factors that shape psychiatric diagnosis and the measurement of mental health and illness, theories that explain the definition and treatment of mental disorders and cultural variability. Part II investigates effects of social context, considering class, gender, race and age, and the critical role played by stress, marriage, work and social support. Part III focuses on the organization, delivery and evaluation of mental health services, including the criminalization of mental illness, the challenges posed by HIV, and the importance of stigma. This is a key research reference source that will be useful to both undergraduates and graduate students studying mental health and illness from any number of disciplines.

Racism and Psychiatry

Download Racism and Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319901974
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (199 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Racism and Psychiatry by : Morgan M. Medlock

Download or read book Racism and Psychiatry written by Morgan M. Medlock and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-04 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the unique sociocultural and historical systems of oppression that have alienated African-American and other racial minority patients within the mental healthcare system. This text aims to build a novel didactic curriculum addressing racism, justice, and community mental health as these issues intersect clinical practice. Unlike any other resource, this guide moves beyond an exploration of the problem of racism and its detrimental effects, to a practical, solution-oriented discussion of how to understand and approach the mental health consequences with a lens and sensitivity for contemporary justice issues. After establishing the historical context of racism within organized medicine and psychiatry, the text boldly examines contemporary issues, including clinical biases in diagnosis and treatment, addiction and incarceration, and perspectives on providing psychotherapy to racial minorities. The text concludes with chapters covering training and medical education within this sphere, approaches to supporting patients coping with racism and discrimination, and strategies for changing institutional practices in mental healthcare. Written by thought leaders in the field, Racism and Psychiatry is the only current tool for psychiatrists, psychologists, administrators, educators, medical students, social workers, and all clinicians working to treat patients dealing with issues of racism at the point of mental healthcare.

Mental Health, Cultural Values, and Social Development

Download Mental Health, Cultural Values, and Social Development PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 940157670X
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (15 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Mental Health, Cultural Values, and Social Development by : R.C. Nann

Download or read book Mental Health, Cultural Values, and Social Development written by R.C. Nann and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is not easy for a layman to attract attention to a book like this. Most who open the cover will be professionals in one of the many aspects of mental health. A moment's thought tells us, however, that if there is a distinction between laymen and professionals it makes no difference to a book like this. Both laymen and professionals care about what will be. That is why this book, the Congress it reports and the World Federation for Mental Health itself can be meaningful to both laymen and professional people. A look into the 80's from the point of view of mental health, cultural values and social development is for all who care about the future. The 1981 Manila Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health was a unique and special gathering. It was the first time the Federation assembled for a Congress in a developing country. In the Philippines we enjoyed the over whelming hospitality and charm of the people and a place where past and future seem as important as the present. All who attended from outside those magic islands will always remember the occasion as a special life experience. For those of you who did attend, this book can revive the stimulation and satisfaction of the Congress. For those of you who did not share the Manila experience, this book can inform and interest you about matters which are important.

Social Order/Mental Disorder

Download Social Order/Mental Disorder PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429850360
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (298 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Social Order/Mental Disorder by : Andrew Scull

Download or read book Social Order/Mental Disorder written by Andrew Scull and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-09-24 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Order/Mental Disorder represents a provocative and exciting exploration of social response to madness in England and the United States from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. Scull, who is well-known for his previous work in this area, examines a range of issues, including the changing social meanings of madness, the emergence and consolidation of the psychiatric profession, the often troubled relationship between psychiatry and the law, the linkages between sex and madness, and the constitution, character, and collapse of the asylum as our standard response to the problems posed by mental disorder. This book is emphatically not part of the venerable tradition of hagiography that has celebrated psychiatric history as a long struggle in which the steady application of rational-scientific principles has produced irregular but unmistakable evidence of progress toward humane treatments for the mentally ill. In fact, Scull contends that traditional mental hospitals, for much of their existence, resembled cemeteries for the still breathing, medical hubris having at times served to license dangerous, mutilating, even life-threatening experiments on the dead souls confined therein. He argues that only the sociologically blind would deny that psychiatrists are deeply involved in the definition and identification of what constitutes madness in our world – hence, claims that mental illness is a purely naturalistic category, somehow devoid of contamination by the social, are taken to be patently absurd. Scull points out, however, that the commitment to examine psychiatry and its ministrations with a critical eye by no means entails the romantic idea that the problems it deals with are purely the invention of the professional mind, or the Manichean notion that all psychiatric interventions are malevolent and ill-conceived. It is the task of unromantic criticism that is attempted in this book.

Concise Guide to Cross-cultural Psychiatry

Download Concise Guide to Cross-cultural Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : American Psychiatric Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Concise Guide to Cross-cultural Psychiatry by : Albert Gaw

Download or read book Concise Guide to Cross-cultural Psychiatry written by Albert Gaw and published by American Psychiatric Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As society becomes more diverse and the world evolves into a global village, the need to integrate culture into medicine and psychiatry has become increasingly critical-challenging clinicians to provide the most effective psychiatric care to patients of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. The author of this groundbreaking guide presents an overview of culture in psychiatry using fascinating case studies to propose that ethnicity be used as a central organizing principle to integrate cultural factors in psychiatric care. This book summarizes the specific cultural contribution in each section of the diagnostic categories of DSM-IV and clarifies today's hot issues on how to define and classify culture-bound syndromes. It highlights the technique of elucidating cultural information during a routine psychiatric interview and details cross-cultural psychopharmacology. It also focuses on the sociocultural factors that affect psychopharmacology and the issue of nonadherence and explores the cultural context of psychotherapy. Designed to fit into a lab-coat or jacket pocket, these convenient guides complement the more detailed information found in lengthier psychiatric texts. Packed with practical information and enhanced with illustrations, references, and a glossary, this Concise Guide will appeal to psychiatrists, psychiatric residents, and medical students working in treatment settings such as inpatient psychiatry units, outpatient clinics, consultation--liaison services, and private offices.

Cultural Diversity, Mental Health and Psychiatry

Download Cultural Diversity, Mental Health and Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135452717
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (354 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cultural Diversity, Mental Health and Psychiatry by : Dr Suman Fernando

Download or read book Cultural Diversity, Mental Health and Psychiatry written by Dr Suman Fernando and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-03 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cultural Diversity, Mental Health and Psychiatry explores how and why black and minority ethnic communities have little confidence in mental health services.

Principles of Social Psychiatry

Download Principles of Social Psychiatry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 047069713X
Total Pages : 602 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (76 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Principles of Social Psychiatry by : Craig Morgan

Download or read book Principles of Social Psychiatry written by Craig Morgan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-06-14 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social psychiatry is concerned with the effects of the social environment on the mental health of the individual, and with the effects of the person with a mental disorder on his/her social environment. The field encompasses social interventions, prevention and the promotion of mental health. This new edition of Principles of Social Psychiatry provides a broad overview of current thinking in this expanding field and will be a source of ideas both in research and for the management of mental disorder. It opens by putting social psychiatry in perspective, within both psychiatry and the social sciences. From the patient's perspective, the outermost influence is the culture in which they live, followed by their neighbourhoods, workmates, and friends and family. The next section considers how we conceptualize the social world, from families through cultural identify and ethnicity to the wider social environment. The book reviews the social determinants and consequences of the major mental disorders before considering interventions and service delivery at various levels to mitigate these. It closes with a review of the social impact of mental illness around the world and a thoughtful essay by the editors on the current state of social psychiatry and where it is heading.