Public Mental Health

by William W. Eaton

Overview

Mental disorders are among the most prevalent sources of disease burden in the world. Increasing recognition of this burden has led to an explosion of scientific research as well as widespread public attention. Understanding causes and consequences of mental health and mental disorders from the perspective of public health involves unique methods and concepts from many disciplines, including population-based surveys in a life course framework. Prevention and control of mental disorders involves design and execution of intervention trials to prevent disorder in individuals who are currently healthy, and to minimize future consequences for those with current disorder or a history of disorder. Interventions of this type are important because good mental health protects against onset of a variety of mental disorders, as well as being a valued outcome in itself. The complexity of the brain and its relationship to social life requires concepts, methods, and syntheses that are new for epidemiology and public health.

Public Mental Health provides a comprehensive introduction and reference for the public health approach to mental and behavioral disorders, and to promotion of mental health. The volume's chapter authors and coauthors are drawn from the internationally renowned faculty of the Department of Mental Health of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a department uniquely positioned to create this important resource for researchers, students, and public health practitioners. The volume explicates the latest methodologies for studying the occurrence of mental disorders in populations and provides estimates of burden, cultural differences, natural history, and disparities between population subgroups. It includes reviews of genes as sources of risk for mental disorders, the occurrence of stresses and their timing over the life span, and crises and disasters as sources of risk. The book includes chapters on the structure and functioning of the mental health service system in the United States, and around the world, and a comprehensive review of population-based strategies of intervention to lower risk. A final chapter lays out a path for the evolution of public mental health in the future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195390445
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/27/2012
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

William W. Eaton, PhD, is Sylvia and Harold Halpert Professor and Chair of the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Table of Contents

SECTION I: THE NATURE OF MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS
1. The Burden of Mental Disorders
William W. Eaton, Pierre Alexandre, O. Joseph Bienvenu, Diana Clarke, Silvia S. Martins, Gerald Nestadt, Benjamin Zablotsky

2. The Perspectives of Psychiatry: The Public Health Approach
Paul McHugh

3. Global Mental Health Issues: Culture and Psychopathology
Judith K. Bass, William W. Eaton, Sharon Abramowitz, Norman Sartorius

SECTION II: METHODS
4. Assessment of Distress, Disorder, Impairment and Need in the Population
William W. Eaton, Ramin Mojtabai, Elizabeth A. Stuart, Jeannie-Marie S. Leoutsakos, S. Janet Kuramoto

5. An Introduction to Quantitative Methods Especially Relevant for Public Mental Health
Elizabeth A. Stuart, Jeannie-Marie Sheppard Leoutsakos, Alden L. Gross, S. Janet Kuramoto, William W. Eaton

SECTION III: DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY
6. The Population Dynamics of Mental Disorders
William W. Eaton, Pierre Alexandre, Ronald C. Kessler, Silvia S. Martins, Preben Bo Mortensen, George W. Rebok, Carla Storr, Kim Roth

7. The Relationship of Adult Mental Disorders to Race, Socioeconomic Status, Marital Status, and Urbanicity of Residence
Silvia S. Martins, Jean Ko, Sachiko Kuwabara, Diana Clarke, Pierre Alexandre, Peter Zandi, Tamar Mendelson, Preben Bo Mortensen, William W. Eaton

SECTION IV: MECHANISMS OF RISK
8. Genes as a Source of Risk for Mental Disorders
Peter P. Zandi, Brion Maher

9. Mental Disorders Across the Life Span and the Role of Executive Function Networks
Michelle C. Carlson, Dana Eldreth, Yi-Fang Chuang

10. Models of Stress and Adapting To Risk: A Life-Course, Developmental Perspective
Catherine P. Bradshaw, George W. Rebok, Benjamin Zablotsky, Lareina N. LaFlair, Tamar Mendelson, William W. Eaton

11. Adapting To Acute Crisis
Carla L. Storr, Melissa Azur, Judith K. Bass, Holly C. Wilcox

SECTION V: THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE SERVICE SYSTEM
12. Mental Health and the Law
Deborah Agus

13. American Mental Health Services: Perspective through Care Patterns for 100 Adults, With Aggregate Facility, Service and Cost Estimates
Ronald W. Manderscheid, Pierre Alexandre, Anita Everett, Phillip Leaf

14. Community and Public Mental Health Services in the US: History And Programs
Anita Everett, Su Yeon Lee

15. Pathways to Care: Need, Attitudes, Barriers
Ramin Mojtabai, William W. Eaton, Pallab K. Maulik

16. Mental Health Systems around The World
Shekhar Saxena, Judith Bass, Anita Everett, William Eaton, Atieh Novin

SECTION VI: PREVENTION AND THE FUTURE
17. The Logic and Practice of the Prevention of Mental Disorders
Tamar Mendelson, Elise T. Pas, Julie A. Leis, Catherine P. Bradshaw, George W. Rebok, Wallace Mandell

18. Progress Made, But Much More to Be Done
Phillip Leaf, Laysha Ostrow, Ronald W. Manderscheid, David L. Shern, William W. Eaton

Editorial Reviews

"This volume will both solidify public mental health as a field of science and practice and become the primary source for information on its knowledge base."
— Raymond P. Lorion, PhD, Dean, College of Education, Towson University

"In terms of summarizing and organizing the many impressive findings on our understanding of mental and behavioral disorder from a populational perspective, this is a tour de force."
— Erick Messias, MD, MPH, PhD, Medical Director, Walker Family Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences

"In this short review, I can only briefly communicate the content of the many excellent chapters by choosing some examples to convey the scope of this volume... The authors deserve our appreciation for a masterful volume that will do much to advance understanding of mental health as an essential public health challenge." — David Mechanic, Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

"The strengths of this text are extensive. The book never loses sight of prevention as the ultimate goal in public health and as the ideal future for the field. The cultural aspects that are so often neglected in the literature are comprehensively discussed in an opening chapter and referenced throughout. The epidemiologic models that frame each chapter are at the forefront of current research, particularly the use of the life-course approach. Finally, the sections and chapters are well coordinated, with little overlap or redundancy." — American Journal of Epidemiology

"[T]hose ... functioning in the realm of public health medicine will find the title of great usefulness." —Occupational Medicine

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Matthew Koster, DO, MBA (Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services)
Description: This is a detailed introduction to the relatively new field of public mental health. It presents important research in this field in a well-organized manner that is well researched and provides a thorough overview of the field. This second edition updates the 2012 first edition.
Purpose: This is a detailed introduction to the relatively new field of public mental health. It presents important research in this field in a well-organized manner that is well researched and provides a thorough overview of the field. This second edition updates the 2012 first edition.
Audience: The identified target audience is public health departments around the world. While the book presents information important and relevant to clinicians, it often goes into more depth than is needed for clinical application and appears more suitable for an academic setting. However, it provides a solid foundation of the public mental health field and is written by experts who include faculty, fellows, and students at the Department of Mental Health of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Features: The 19 chapters are grouped into six sections. This edition includes a new chapter, "Suicide as a Public Health Burden," and the concluding chapter, "Hopes and Challenges Moving Forward," has been updated with significant advances in the field. This is a well-organized book with helpful key points at the beginning of each chapter along with useful tables, charts, and illustrations that present research findings.
Assessment: As a physician in training, I thought this book offered a more in-depth look at public mental health than is needed by clinicians. However, it is a meaningful contribution that serves as a thorough introduction to a relatively new and growing field. It is one of only a few such books and stands out as one that provides a well-researched, systematic approach to public mental health and has been written by authors who are leaders in the field. While the previous edition was published just seven years ago, this update includes a very important and timely addition on suicide as a public health burden as well as significant updated research.

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