The Public Library of Science calls for “case studies that can help broaden our understanding of global mental health in ‘real-life’ contexts.” The series intends to “emphasize the importance of ‘practice-based evidence,’ by placing value on the experiences and impact of interventions in real-world settings as evidence for implementation.” The first two, “Stepped Care for Maternal Mental Health ” and “Improving Access to Mental Health Care and Psychosocial Support within a Fragile Context: A Case Study from Afghanistan “, are published this week.
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Kermit Cole, MFT, founding editor of Mad in America, works in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a couples and family therapist. Inspired by Open Dialogue, he works as part of a team and consults with couples and families that have members identified as patients. His work in residential treatment — largely with severely traumatized and/or "psychotic" clients — led to an appreciation of the power and beauty of systemic philosophy and practice, as the alternative to the prevailing focus on individual pathology. A former film-maker, he has undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology from Harvard University as well as an MFT degree from the Council for Relationships in Philadelphia. Kermit leads workshops and webinars on the role of humor in psychotherapy and other human services. You can reach him at
[email protected] .
Providing counseling to pregnant women who are distressed — what a revolutionary idea.
Only .3% of the 6347 total population or 2.4% of those who received counseling went on to see a psychiatrist. One would hope some number of these were not put on medications.
These are much better statistics than in the US, where upwards of 2% of all pregnant women are on antidepressants http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pregnancy_gateway/meds/data.html and 27% of pregnant women on Medicaid http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20360278
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