Abstract
This part of the handbook deals with transdisciplinary perspectives from the social sciences and humanities on some of the most crucial issues of the Global Mental Health (GMH) agenda. The various chapters take us on a captivating disciplinary tour across central GMH notions such as medicalization of distress, recovery from severe mental illness, space and mental disorders, culture and treatment outcomes, positive mental health and happiness, cultural idioms of distress and psychiatric classifications.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The authors seem to prefer using the politicized concept of ‘madness’ as opposed to the more conventional medicalized notion of ‘mental illness’.
References
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition—Text revision (DSM-IV-TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders fifth edition (DSM-5). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Bracken, P., Campbell, C., Davar, B., et al. (2014). Recognising and supporting alternatives to Western psychiatry. Unpublished manuscript.
Browner, C., & Sargent, C. (2007). Gender: Engendering medical anthropology. In F. Saillant & S. Genest (Eds.), Medical anthropology. Regional perspective and shared concerns (pp. 233–251). Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Curtis, S., & Riva, M. (2010). Health geographies I: Complexity theory and human health. Progress in Human Geography, 34(2), 215–223.
Fassin, D., & Rechtman, R. (2009). The empire of trauma: An inquiry into the condition of victimhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Fernando, S. (2014). Mental health worldwide: Culture, globalization and development. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gesler, W. M. (1991). The cultural geography of health care. Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press.
Goldstein, J. (1987). Console and classify: The French psychiatric profession in the 19th century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Guarnaccia, P., Lewis-Fernández, R., & Rivera Marano, M. (2003). Toward a Puerto Rican popular nosology: Nervios and ataque de nervios. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 27(3), 339–366.
Hagengimana, A., & Hinton, D. (2009). ‘Ihahamuka,’ a Rwandan syndrome of response to the genocide: Blocked flow, spirit assault, and shortness of breath. In D. Hinton & B. Good (Eds.), Culture and panic disorder (pp. 205–229). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Kirmayer, L. (2002). Psychopharmacology in a globalizing world: The use of antidepressants in Japan. Transcultural Psychiatry, 39(3), 295–322.
Kuper, A. (1999). Culture: The anthropologist account. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Inter-Agency Standing Committee. (2007). IASC guidelines on mental health and psychological support in emergency settings. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
Mayer, E. (2004). Casa, chacra y dinero: economías domésticas y ecología en los Andes. Lima, Perú: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.
Myers, N. L. (2010). Culture, stress and recovery from schizophrenia: Lessons from the field for global mental health. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 34, 500–528.
Nichter, M. (1981). Idioms of distress revisited. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 34(2), 401–416.
Oquendo, M. A. (1995). Differential diagnosis of ataque de nervios. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65(1), 60–65.
Pedersen, D., Kienzler, H., & Gamarra, J. (2010). Llaki and ñakary: Idioms of distress and suffering among the highland Quechua in the Peruvian Andes. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. doi:10.1007/s11013-010-9173-z.
Pedersen, D., Kienzler, H., & Guzder, J. (2015). Searching for best practices: An enquiry into the nature of psychosocial interventions aimed at reducing the mental health burden in conflict and post-conflict settings. SAGE Open, 5(4), 1–25. doi:10.1177/21582 44015615164.
Read, U. (2012). “I want one that will heal me completely so it won’t come back again”: The limits of anti-psychotic medication in rural Ghana. Transcultural Psychiatry, 49(3–4), 438–460.
Rose, E. (2012). Encountering place: A psychosomatic approach for understanding how therapeutic landscapes benefit health and well being. Health & Place, 18, 1381–1387.
Sartorius, N., Jablensky, A., Korten, A., Ernberg, G., Anker, M., Cooper, J. E., & Day, R. (1986). Early manifestations and first-contact incidence of schizophrenia in different cultures: A preliminary report on the initial evaluation phase of the WHO collaborative study on determinants of outcome of severe mental disorders. Psychological Medicine, 16(4), 909–928.
Summerfield, D. (2012). Afterword: Against “global mental health”. Transcultural Psychiatry, 49(3–4), 519–530.
Tousignant, M. (1979). Espanto: A dialogue with the Gods. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 3(4), 347–361.
Ware, N. C., & Kleinman, A. (1992). Culture and somatic experience: The social course of illness in neurasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Psychosomatic Medicine, 54(5), 546–560.
Watters, E. (2011). Crazy like us: The globalization of the Western mind. London: Constable & Robinson.
Weller, S. C., Baer, R. D., Garcia de Alba, J., Glazer, M., Trotter, R., Pachter, L., & Klein, R. E. (2002). Regional variation in Latino descriptions of susto. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 26(4), 449–472.
White, S. C., Gaines, S. O., & Jha, S. (2014). Inner wellbeing: Concept and validation of a new approach to subjective perceptions of wellbeing—India. Social Indicators Research, 2, 1–24.
Yap, P. M. (1965). A culture-bound depersonalization syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 111(470), 43–50.
Note from the Editors
Dr Duncan Pedersen sadly passed away on 26 January 2016 while completing fieldwork in Chile. Duncan died as he had lived—demonstrating a true commitment to promoting understanding about the needs of diverse populations across the globe. He was insightful and progressive in his thinking until the end. Speaking at the final plenary of the 2015 Canadian Conference for Global Health on 7 November 2015, Duncan urged attendees to be more mindful of the effects that larger determinants and structures have on health, and the need to promote social justice in the context of factors such as geopolitical tensions and climate change (http://www.csih.org/en/blog-3/). In an online post in October 2015, Pedersen and Kirmayer highlighted that ‘the most serious global disparities in mental health are an intricate part of the forces of globalization and the current crises at the planetary level. Global warming, resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, poverty and social inequalities, violent conflict, war, and forced migration are among the important challenges that are shaped by cultural values and practices on both local and global-scales. This cluster of contemporary problems is part of the web of causes that contribute to the global distribution (and apparent world-wide escalation) of mental disorders and is powerfully shaping the GMH research agenda, which aims to support effective action’ (see http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2015/10/global-mental-health-at-mcgill-advancing-a-social-cultural-and-ecosystemic-view/).
At the time of his death, Duncan was finalizing arrangements for the 22nd Annual Summer Program in Social and Cultural Psychiatry to be hosted at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. The title of the International Advanced Study Institute—the traditional curtain-raiser for the programme—had been confirmed as ‘Psychiatry for a Small Planet: Eco-social Approaches to Global Mental Health’. The four central themes that Duncan and his colleagues had identified for the event were (1) rethinking the politics, ethics and pragmatics of GMH ‘from the bottom up’ to ensure the voice of diverse communities; (2) the impact of urbanization and the built environment; (3) the implications of forced migration and displacement; and (4) the impacts of climate change on the mental health of populations and communities (https://www.mcgill.ca/tcpsych/training/advanced/2016). Although Duncan’s absence was sorely felt by all those who attended the event, the Duncan Pedersen Scholarship that was launched at the meeting will help to ensure that his legacy lives on, and that for years to come students will be afforded the opportunity to progress the values and principles that he espoused.
The commentary that Duncan had kindly agreed to write for this volume was awaiting his final revisions at the time of his death. With the permission of his family, we have included it in its unfinished form. Duncan’s passing on is a great loss for the academic community and, in particular, for those involved in GMH research and practice. He will be sadly missed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pedersen, D. (2017). Commentary on ‘Mental Health Across the Globe: Conceptual Perspectives from Social Science and the Humanities’ Section. In: White, R., Jain, S., Orr, D., Read, U. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-39510-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-39510-8_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-39509-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-39510-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)