Bringing Structural Competency to Global Mental Health

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Structural competency is put forth as a framework that addresses social and structural determinants in global mental health.

How to Change Psychology to Address Racial Health Disparities

Psychology can only deal with racial health disparities effectively by incorporating critical race theory and intervening at a structural level.

Opening Doors in the Borderlands: An Interview with Liberation Psychologist Mary Watkins

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MIA’s Micah Ingle interviews Mary Watkins about reorienting psychology toward liberation and social justice.

How Western Psychiatry Harms Alternative Understandings of Mental Health

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An anthropological look at the Global Mental Health (GMH) movement suggests several ethical problems and contradictions in its mission.

Blaming Climate Change Inaction on Psychological Barriers Misses the Point

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Researchers argue that blaming climate change inaction on psychological barriers ignores the effects of neoliberal capitalism and social structures.

Researchers Critique WHO Mental Health Technology

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Researchers critically examine the underlying assumptions and implications of a new WHO mental health technology designed to streamline psychiatric assessment internationally.

Experts Raise Ethical Concerns About Machine Learning in Medicine

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The use of machine learning algorithms (known as artificial intelligence) in the medical field raises a slew of ethical concerns.

Training Health Workers in Therapy Leads to Improvements and Less Medication Use

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A Nigerian study finds that more than three-quarters of patients improved, even when only 13% were prescribed medication.

Exporting Psychological Concepts Associated With Gender May Have Unintended Consequences

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New qualitative research finds a shift in the meaning of gender as it enters the local lexicon of people in rural Malawi, in turn having negative ramifications for those it is meant to help.

It is Time for Global Mental Health to Acknowledge Sociostructural Determinants of Distress

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Researchers call for action to address social challenges and inequalities that obstruct mental health and well-being globally.

A Social Psychiatry Manifesto that Takes Social Context Seriously

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A re-visioned approach to social psychiatry aims to understand the broad influence of social life on mental health.

New Review Finds Lancet Global Mental Health Report Misguided

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A new critical review of the latest Lancet global mental health report finds that while the movement claims to take a public health approach in its rhetoric it continues to focus on culturally inappropriate individual-level interventions.

Decontextualized Depression and PTSD Diagnoses Fail Indigenous Communities

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A case analysis of an American Indian woman illustrates how the DSM diagnostic criteria misrepresent the lives of indigenous people.

Psychotropic Medications Serve as Powerful Tools for U.S. Military, Imperialism

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Ethnographic research sheds light on extensive psychopharmaceutical use by soldiers in post 9/11 U.S. wars.

Mobile Apps for Mental Health Lack Transparency in Data Sharing

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Research illustrates privacy concerns with how mental health applications collect and share users’ data.

Debate Ensues Over Rights-Based Approach to Mental Health

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Debate ensues as scholars and policymakers discuss how to bring a rights-based approach to mental health policy.

Green Space in Childhood May Protect Against Adult Mental Health Issues

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A new study suggests proximity to green space as a child is linked to lower rates of mental health issues in adulthood.

Increasing Prevalence of Mood Disorders Among Teens and Young Adults

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Depression, serious psychological distress, and suicide attempts have risen substantially since the early 2000s among young adults – what’s changed?

First-Person Accounts of Madness and Global Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Gail Hornstein

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Dr. Gail Hornstein, author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the importance of personal narratives and service-user activism in the context of the global mental health movement.

Psychology Needs New Concepts and Healing Models for Racial Trauma

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Contemporary empirical research explores new ways to conceptualize and heal racial trauma through anticolonial and sociohistorical lenses.

Researchers Identify Demographic, Ideological Factors Associated With Refugee Prejudice

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A new analysis finds multiple antecedents of refugee prejudice, including religiousness, conservatism, and education.

Psychology Must Become a Sanctuary Discipline to Heal Racial Trauma

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Researchers explore pathways of healing racial trauma in Latinx immigrant communities.

New Book Deconstructs Ideology of Cognitive Therapy

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CBT forwards a hyper-rational perspective of human suffering that complements a managerialist culture of efficiency and institutionalization in the Western world.

Climate Change Negatively Impacts Mental Health, Study Finds

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Climate change-related extreme weather and increasing temperatures associated with higher rates of mental health challenges.

United Nations Rep Brings Attention to Human Rights Violations in Psychiatry

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Dr. Dainius Pūras argues that the status quo in mental health treatment is no longer acceptable and demands political action to promote human rights.