Hypertension, Cardiology, Primary Health and Patient Care

Global Mental Health

The term global means international. Thus Global mental health defines the international viewpoint on various aspects of mental health. Its overall aim is to strengthen mental health all over the world by providing information about the mental health conditions in all countries, and classifying mental health care requirements in order to develop economical interventions to fulfil those specific requirements. Global mental health puts priority on improving mental health and achieving fairness in mental health for all individuals worldwide by study, research and practice. Lately, the global mental health movement has met with some criticism. It has been labelled as a cover for the pharmaceutical companies searching for new consumers for psychiatric drugs. Mental disorders are considered as health conditions categorized by changes in state of mind, mood and behaviour that are associated with pain or potentially disability in working. Mental illness refers to all diagnosable mental disorders. Mental disorders are one of the most well-known causes for disability and may incorporate death in some cases. Approximately, one in four people in the world is somehow affected by mental or neurological disorder at some point in their lives. Although there is rise in interventions for treatment of mental disorders and awareness about mental disorders among people, the so called treatment gap is still very high. The treatment gap is estimated to be in between 76–85% for low- and middle-income countries and 35–50% for high-income countries.