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Mental health service provision varies enormously across the world and faces major challenges, largely determined by the contexts in which it functions. A variety of services exist side by side in low‐income countries. They include services provided in the statutory and private (fee‐paying) sectors, therapies provided by physicians working within indigenous systems of medicine, healing provided at religious locations and services provided by non‐governmental organisations. This paper provides a brief survey of some recent literature on mental health in low‐income countries and goes on to describe a few examples of innovative projects in these countries. The paper concludes by outlining some of the challenges faced by these countries in providing services in the modern world.

The purpose of this survey was to describe the impact of the diagnosis of schizophrenia on the lives of people who receive the diagnosis.

The authors designed a questionnaire to investigate attitudes to and experiences of the diagnosis of schizophrenia. After a pilot study, they made the questionnaire available online and, through a network of service user and other organisations, solicited responses.

Of the 470 responses, 27.4 per cent were from service users. Content analysis of their responses revealed three main categories: concern with the consequences of the diagnosis and its negative impact on their lives, the life contexts of individuals before receiving the diagnosis, and concerns with medication and treatment. This paper deals with the first two.

It is impossible to generalise the results of this survey because respondents self‐selected, and thus might be expected to have strong feelings against (or for) the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

The diagnosis of schizophrenia in this sample had devastating negative implications. It was experienced as harmful and stigmatising. Very few people understood their experiences as a biomedical disorder.

A gulf exists between the experiences of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and the concerns of academics and others currently involved in debates about the merits of different systems of diagnosis.

This survey is valuable because it draws attention to experiences of diagnosis that are easily lost in the storm of academic controversies about diagnosis in psychiatry.

The closure of long‐stay hospitals and the emphasis on community living have highlighted the challenges services face in meeting the needs of some individuals. Government reports since 1990 on services for people with mental health needs, learning disabilities, challenging behaviour and/or criminal offending have recommended community living whenever possible, outlined the characteristics of good services and made suggestions about how these might be achieved (Department of Health, 1992; Department of Health, 1993; Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996; NHS Executive, 1998). Nevertheless, most health and social service providers still find it difficult to attain the kinds of service proposed and Bouras (1999) recently concluded that this was partly a result of the separation of services for people with learning disabilities from mainstream mental health services. This paper reports the experience of a local service development intervention designed around the needs of this client group.

This paper reports findings of a study that was undertaken as a part of a wider programme of research and capacity building in Sri Lanka. The analysis of individual aspects of well‐being and how they had been affected by displacement provides a basis for the planning of interventions by helping agencies, and for training people who work with refugees.

The purpose of this article is to review the series of five articles which have appeared in the Journal since the June 2007 edition. The authors of the articles in the series were tasked with exploring the theme of holistic care and integrated practice with BME individuals and communities who access health and social care services. This article explores how far this issue has been addressed, and offers some ways forward in thinking about integrated care for BME individuals and communities.

This chapter briefly summaries research over the past four decades (and prior) associated with black men and mental health in the UK. The chapter also examines some responses to the research. This is because we unfortunately remain in a situation where black men in Britain are 17 times more likely than white counterparts to be diagnosed with a psychotic illness. Research into the mental health needs of black men has been conducted repeatedly in the UK, with each new generation hopeful for change. By briefly exploring some policies that have emerged to address this inequality, this chapter highlights the barriers to change.