Historical Origins of Global Mental Health

This chapter traces the emergence of global mental health as an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on achieving equity in mental health for all people worldwide. It identifies the shortages of mental health services worldwide and the strategies that are being employed to address those shortages, notably task shifting/task sharing. It traces the contributions of various disciplines from anthropology to psychiatry and highlights the important interpretations that accompany psychiatric diagnosing. Critiques of the global mental health movement are identified as well as links made to the ethical principles that underlie it.