Mental disorders constitute a significant challenge for health systems worldwide, for example, indicated by the high global disease burden (13 percent) or the high total number of suicides across the globe (1.5 million per year). Multiple national and international initiatives have addressed mental health as a key global health challenge and have helped to chart available resources and to suggest urgently needed health care solutions on a regional or global level. Global mental health becomes even more relevant in these time where global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and large migration movements are present. Even though effective preventive interventions and therapies have been developed in recent decades, in most countries, they are either still not available or even absent. The reasons for this knowledge and treatment gap are diverse: from the stigmatization of mental illnesses, unequal distribution of mental health care professionals between and within countries, neglect of cultural factors impacting mental health, and the acceptance of interventions to a lack of health literacy in general. All these disparities acutely and dramatically manifest in times of pandemic or forced migration not only in countries of the global south but also in established European and Northern American national health care systems.
Against this background, the goal of this Research Topic is to examine the multiple interdependencies between mental health and global challenges and the impact on societies and individuals. To do so, this Research Topic aims at shedding light on possible diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and interventions aimed at overcoming the multiple barriers to accessing mental health services. This field of research has themes that are relevant to a variety of disciplines. Therefore, our Research Topic will aim to address the issue of global mental health as one which can only be seen from an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary perspective. Thus, publications and multidisciplinary approaches that combine medical, sociological, and psychological to anthropological disciplines are strongly encouraged.
Against this background, we also welcome submissions to this Research Topic that may address the following themes:
• Stress-related disorders and resilience in forced migration and pandemic
• The role of stigma on idioms of distress and explanatory models of mental illness
• Investigation of the interaction of socioeconomic factors and mental health in refugees
• Investigation of the interaction of socioeconomic factors and mental health in migrants in times of pandemic
• The role of culture in psychotherapeutic interventions
• The role of culture in processes of acculturation and integration in mental illnesses
• The interaction of social cohesion, integration, belonging, and mental health
Mental disorders constitute a significant challenge for health systems worldwide, for example, indicated by the high global disease burden (13 percent) or the high total number of suicides across the globe (1.5 million per year). Multiple national and international initiatives have addressed mental health as a key global health challenge and have helped to chart available resources and to suggest urgently needed health care solutions on a regional or global level. Global mental health becomes even more relevant in these time where global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and large migration movements are present. Even though effective preventive interventions and therapies have been developed in recent decades, in most countries, they are either still not available or even absent. The reasons for this knowledge and treatment gap are diverse: from the stigmatization of mental illnesses, unequal distribution of mental health care professionals between and within countries, neglect of cultural factors impacting mental health, and the acceptance of interventions to a lack of health literacy in general. All these disparities acutely and dramatically manifest in times of pandemic or forced migration not only in countries of the global south but also in established European and Northern American national health care systems.
Against this background, the goal of this Research Topic is to examine the multiple interdependencies between mental health and global challenges and the impact on societies and individuals. To do so, this Research Topic aims at shedding light on possible diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and interventions aimed at overcoming the multiple barriers to accessing mental health services. This field of research has themes that are relevant to a variety of disciplines. Therefore, our Research Topic will aim to address the issue of global mental health as one which can only be seen from an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary perspective. Thus, publications and multidisciplinary approaches that combine medical, sociological, and psychological to anthropological disciplines are strongly encouraged.
Against this background, we also welcome submissions to this Research Topic that may address the following themes:
• Stress-related disorders and resilience in forced migration and pandemic
• The role of stigma on idioms of distress and explanatory models of mental illness
• Investigation of the interaction of socioeconomic factors and mental health in refugees
• Investigation of the interaction of socioeconomic factors and mental health in migrants in times of pandemic
• The role of culture in psychotherapeutic interventions
• The role of culture in processes of acculturation and integration in mental illnesses
• The interaction of social cohesion, integration, belonging, and mental health