About the Book THE BATTLE FOR MENTAL HEALTHCARE IN INDIA PIECED TOGETHER FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY With new insights into the human mind there is a better understanding of its disorders. Mental illness has ceased to be perceived as a mysterious malady and science offers accepted methods of diagnosis and treatment. In most countries, the mentally ill have the same rights as any other citizen. They live a life of dignity and with meaning. The days of forced confinement are gone, so too is the spectre of shame and of stigma. In India, the reform in mental healthcare began in the early 20th century, during British rule. What was it that prompted this move? Which were the new ideas that took root? Who were the people that pushed for change? How did political events and especially the World Wars and Partition affect progress? What changed when Indian doctors and administrators took over the management of mental hospitals? What did all of this mean for the treatment and care of the mentally ill? Daman Singh looks for answers to these questions in this intriguing account of a little-known battle spanning a century and more.

About the Book AN INTIMATE AND REMARKABLE STORY OF ONE WOMAN’S EXPERIENCE OF WAR. It is December 1941. Japan has just bombed Pearl Harbor. After a series of victories in Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore, the Japanese are closing in on India. And the British colony must meet the demands of the war outside its borders, even as the Independence movement gathers steam within. That’s when Katherine Riddle comes home to Pipli with bruised dreams and a broken heart. Fed on gossip fuelled by rumours, the little railway colony is on edge. Nobody is immune—not even her stoic father, Terrence. Nor the always placid Ayah. And especially not the tongue-tied Indian assistant stationmaster. Set in the last years of the British Raj, this is an unusual novel about being torn between two worlds.

This open access book provides an enriched understanding of historical, collective, cultural, and identity-related trauma, emphasising the social and political location of human subjects. It therefore presents a socio-ecological perspective on trauma, rather than viewing displaced individuals as traumatised “passive victims”. The vastness of the phenomenon of trauma among displaced populations has led it to become a critical and timely area of inquiry, and this book is an important addition to the literature. It gives an overview of theoretical frameworks related to trauma and migration—exploring factors of risk and resilience, prevalence rates of PTSD, and conceptualisations of trauma beyond psychiatric diagnoses; conceptualises experiences of trauma from a sociocultural perspective (including collective trauma, collective aspirations, and collective resilience); and provides applications for professionals working with displaced populations in complex institutional, legal, and humanitarian settings. It includes case studies based on the author’s own 10-year experience working in emergency contexts with displaced populations in 11 countries across the world. This book presents unique data collected by the author herself, including interviews with survivors of ISIS attacks, with an asylum seeker in Switzerland who set himself alight in protest against asylum procedures, and women from the Murle tribe affected by the conflict in South Sudan who experienced an episode of mass fainting spells. This is an important resource for academics and professionals working in the field of trauma studies and with traumatised groups and individuals.

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.

In the years following World War II the health and well-being of the nation was of primary concern to the British government. The essays in this collection examine the relationship between health and stress in post-war Britain through a series of carefully connected case studies.

"A clear, straightforward guide to the issues around mental health [and] a useful starting resource for non-mental health practitioners to develop their understanding of the processes involved in mental health." Joanne Fisher, Senior Practice Educator, Cambridge University Hospitals An Introduction to Mental Health is essential reading for anyone learning the fundamentals of mental health. Written for an interdisciplinary audience with no prior knowledge of mental health practice, the book uses a patient-centred focus and covers the historical context of mental health through to contemporary issues, including mental health law, policy, professional practice, equality and diversity in the sector, and international perspectives. Key learning features include concept summaries, reflective points, case studies and reflective exercises to help situate content in the context of practice.