Book Name : Mental Health at Crossroads: Challenges and Solutions Editors : Rakesh Kumar Chadda, Pratap Sharan, Mamta Sood, and Koushik Sinha Deb Publisher : White Falcon Publishing Number of Pages : 286 Year of Publication : First Edition 2022 ISBN : 978-1-63640-731-9 The book was edited by four renowned psychiatrists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. This book covered multidimensional aspects of mental health care with 34 chapters. The book’s authors are from the core mental healthcare team, including psychiatry, clinical psychology, psychiatric social work, and nursing. It is not limited to the traditional psychiatric view but also integrates other psychosocial and cultural factors. The book’s topics are diverse and comprehensive, often neglected, and absolutely suitable for the Indian context. The book covered important issues related to mental health, covering all age groups. The book Mental Health at Crossroads: Challenges and Solutions rightly chose the title, mental health is essential for anyone’s functioning, and mental health is equally important as physical health but has been neglected by most of the sections of society. COVID-19 taught us that mental health is important across borders, and that all-important stakeholders in health, including policymakers, gave much-needed attention. The rationale behind choosing the title is that it absolutely opted for this, and not only focused on challenges but also came up with solutions. This book is not only intended for mental health professionals but also for persons with mental illness and their caregivers, social scientists, educators, those who are working for the rights of persons with mental illness, and other healthcare providers. The first chapter began with mental health concepts and their relevance to the WHO’s definition of health. What mental health is, its factors, and basic principles for maintaining optimal health were discussed, highlighting that mental health is closely associated with physical and social health. Subsequent chapters were on how to identify mental illnesses, disease burden, myths and misconceptions, dealing with various types of mental illnesses, including common and severe mental disorders, and included emerging issues in the present world, like behavioral addiction. One of the significant public health issues is suicide prevention, stigma, mental health issues in general health, eating disorders, sexual dysfunctions, sleep disorders, and issues in special populations like children, women, and the elderly. Notably, learning from ancient India, the spirituality and mental health chapters, how Indian traditional methods, treatises, are practical in the modern world, is the need of the hour. The chapter on treatments for mental illness gave an overview of pharmacological treatment options. The psychotherapy and counseling chapter highlighted the importance of behavioral interventions. Disability and rights of the persons with mental illness, therapeutic community, long-term care for chronic mental illness, family and mental health chapters added flavor of very much needed psychosocial angle, and argued for the rehabilitation of persons with mental illness and their rights. These chapters can help their caregivers understand rights and welfare benefits; generally, these important aspects are neglected in standard textbooks of psychiatry. Furthermore, the prevention and promotion aspects of mental health are discussed with specific strategies. The role of technology in mental health highlighted the important aspects of including technology in research, clinical services, and public health, as well as innovative approaches used in the modern world. Although this book has many strengths, the limitations must be highlighted. At the end of each chapter, key points are beneficial in summarizing and understanding. They could have also kept a few MCQs to test the knowledge or recall after reading. Some of the book’s limitations gave an overview of that chapter, but not for an in-depth analytical understanding, as this book intends for various stakeholders. As it is focused on Indian settings, international readers may find it challenging to apply, and it could have included more case vignettes and caregivers’ perspectives for discussion and better illustration. This book is ideal for various stakeholders, not only for mental health professionals, but also recommended for teaching basic concepts, sensitization programs and libraries to reach the unreached. Those who do not have any basic knowledge of mental health can also refer to this one. This book focused on mental health education and highlighted the challenges in implementation and the treatment gap. This book can help transfer scientific information to grassroots-level workers and is an essential reference for public mental health in India. Based on the 34 chapters, a synthesis of the future of public mental health perspectives in India could have been incorporated. In India, mental health education must go a long way to fill the treatment gaps and sensitize the public. This book can be an essential piece of work in accessing mental health knowledge to the general public. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.
Prasad Kannekanti (Thu,) studied this question.