Oxford Cultural Psychiatry

This volume emerges as a result of a dialogue that involves leading proponents of early intervention and global mental health in a variety of contexts. Since the revival of early intervention for psychotic disorders two decades ago, the early intervention paradigm has been elaborated and consolidated in a number of different cultural and clinical settings, and has also been developed to address other mental health conditions. The paradigm for early intervention involves addressing barriers to early detection of illness, the identification of early risk states, as well as the provision of specialized intervention to steer the psychopathology trajectory away from an adverse outcome in a timely fashion. This volume starts with a discussion of relevant cultural factors involved in these endeavours. Current ideas about brain changes in the different stages of the illness trajectory are then reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of real-life implementations of early intervention for psychosis in a number of different cultural settings, highlighting how the basic paradigm for early intervention has been adapted to different populations in diverse service settings to improve outcome. The second major theme of this book is about the application of this paradigm to other mental health conditions that share an onset around the youth developmental period. These disorders include personality disorders, substance use disorders, and bipolar disorder. Each of these disorders has a different early presentation trajectory, which brings specific challenges. Current approaches and future prospects in addressing these challenges are discussed.Less

The internal migration in countries around the globe as a result of rapid urbanization and related to industrialization as a consequence of globalization has been truly remarkable. The past 50 years have seen a massive rise in the numbers of people moving and creating megapolis in many parts of the world. It is inevitable that with such massive internal migration come stressors such as pollution, lack of space, overcrowding, unemployment, and increased likelihood of infectious diseases, all of which contribute to an increase in psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, such migration can also lead to the splintering of social support and the fraying of social networks, which can further contribute to poor help-seeking and poor therapeutic adherence and poor prognosis. This book highlights challenges in managing mental health and psychiatric disorders in urban areas. The contributors include researchers, clinicians, urban planners, urban designers, and others who are interested in the field. The book will appeal to all mental health professionals, whether they are working in urban areas or rural areas.Less