Norman Sartorius

Hanfried Helmchen

Ethics in Psychiatry: (1) presents a comprehensive review of ethical issues arising in psychiatric care and research; (2) relates ethical issues to changes and challenges of society; (3) examines the application of general ethics to specific psychiatric problems and relates these to moral implications of psychiatry practice; (4) deals with recently arising ethical problems; (5) contains contributions of leading European ethicists, philosophers, lawyers, historians and psychiatrists; (6) provides a basis for the exploration of culture-bound influences on morals, manners and customs in the light of ethical principles of global validity.

European Contributions

Ethics in Psychiatry

Armand W. Loranger

A. Janca

The vital guide to reliable diagnosis and assessment of personality disorders internationally.

The ICD-10 International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE)

Assessment and Diagnosis of Personality Disorders

Ono Yutaka

Aleksandar Janca

Masahiro Asai

Medically unexplained somatic symptoms are problematic in psychiatry, primary care settings, and other clinical areas. The burden they impose on health-care systems constitutes a significant public health problem. At the international symposium "Rethinking Somatoform Disorders," this problem was addressed by specialists working in somatoform disorders, psychiatric nosology, epidemiology, and biological and cross-cultural psychiatry. The meeting was the third of the Keio University International Symposia for Life Sciences and Medicine, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the World Psychiatric Association.

A Worldwide Perspective

Somatoform Disorders

Wulf Rössler

Wolfgang Gaebel

This book makes a highly innovative contribution to overcoming the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness – still the heaviest burden both for those afflicted and those caring for them. The scene is set by the presentation of different fundamental perspectives on the problem of stigma and discrimination by researchers, consumers, families, and human rights experts. Current knowledge and practice used in reducing stigma are then described, with information on the programmes adopted across the world and their utility, feasibility, and effectiveness. The core of the volume comprises descriptions of new approaches and innovative programmes specifically designed to overcome stigma and discrimination. In the closing part of the book, the editors – all respected experts in the field – summarize some of the most important evidence- and experience-based recommendations for future action to successfully rewrite the long and burdensome ‘story’ of mental illness stigma and discrimination.

The Stigma of Mental Illness - End of the Story?

Shekhar Saxena

Darrel A. Regier

Benedetto Saraceno

Patricia Esparza

Public Health Aspects of Diagnosis and Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders: Refining the Research Agenda for DSM-5 and ICD-11 provides a comprehensive summary of the current state of mental health classification in the United States and internationally, fostering a better understanding of primary research and clinical needs and facilitating the efforts of service planners, researchers and trainees to address current use of psychiatric diagnosis in the public health sector. The volume reflects the proceedings of a research planning conference convened by the APA and World Health Organization (WHO) that focused on public health aspects of the diagnosis and classification of mental disorders. Highly relevant to the ongoing development of DSM-5 and ICD-11, the book includes the background papers prepared and presented by the Conference Expert Groups. The resulting collection: Discusses the current state of mental illness prevention efforts and the role of public health in supporting them -- critical topics, given that development of effective strategies to reduce mental illness around the world depends on the accuracy with which risk and protective factors can be identified, defined, and understood. Features international perspectives on public health implications of psychiatric diagnosis, classification, and service, providing viewpoints that are broad and more globally relevant. Views mental health education, and awareness on a macro level, including its impact on social and economic policy, forensics and the legal system, and education. This approach facilitates the continued development of a research base in community health and promotes the establishment of programs for monitoring, treating, and preventing mental illness. Addresses many fascinating and clinically relevant issues, such as those raised by the concept and the definition of mental disorders and how these impact psychiatric services and practice by individual providers. This collection should prove useful to the advisory groups, task forces, and working groups for the revision of these two classifications, as well as for researchers in the area of diagnosis and classification, and more generally in public health.

Refining the Research Agenda for DSM-5 and ICD-11

Public Health Aspects of Diagnosis and Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders

Heinz Katschnig

Hugh Freeman

In this volume the contributors examine the relationship between quality of life and disabilities with psychosocial concepts like well-being, life satisfaction, difficulties and events and social adjustments in patients with mental disorders.

Quality of Life in Mental Disorders

Heather Stuart

Preceded by Paradigms lost: fighting stigma and the lessons learned / Heather Stuart, Julio Arboleda-Flâorez, Norman Sartorius. c2012.

Lessons Learned in the Fight Against the Stigma of Mental Illness

Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Found

Julio Arboleda-Flórez

Many mentally ill people are the victims of stigma, which leads to additional suffering and humiliation. Negative stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes against them are often reinforced by their media representation as unpredictable, violent and dangerous. Hence the importance of the study of stigma as an explanatory construct of much that transpires in the management of the mentally ill in our societies. This book describes the experience of stigmatization at the level of the individual, and seeks to measure stigma and discrimination from the following perspectives: Self imposed stigma due to shame, guilt and low self esteem; Socially imposed stigma due to social stereotyping and prejudice; and Structurally imposed stigma, caused by policies, practices, and laws that discriminate against the mentally ill. This book briefly describes programmes that aim to reduce such stigma then looks at ways to evaluate their effectiveness. It is the first book to focus on evaluation and research methodologies in stigma and mental health. It also: presents new interventions to reduce stigma describes the various international programmes which help reduce stigma discusses the use of the internet as an international tool to promote awareness of stigma in mental health Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness is essential reading for clinicians and researchers who wish to apply or develop stigma reduction programmes. It is also a valuable addition to the libraries of political analysts, policy makers, clinicians, researchers, and all those interested in how to approach and measure this distressing social phenomenon.

Theory and Interventions

Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness

Mario Maj

From Chapter 1 "Depression, like many other mental disorders, is characterised by the presence of a number of symptoms which are changeable over time." Among these symptoms are a depressed mood and a loss of interest; physical and cognitive changes may also occur. Because of difficulties in diagnosis (and varied criteria) only estimates in the global number of cases of depression can be made. Some estimates put it in front of chronic heart disease as a health problem and cause of death. This revised edition covers developments in diagnosis, theraphy, prognosis, economic evaluation and quality improvement. * Provides accompanying commentaries by an outstanding line up of contributors * Covers developments in diagnosis, therapy, prognosis, economic evaluation and quality improvement * Provides an unbiased and reliable reference point

Depressive Disorders

Barry Nurcombe

Ahmed Okasha

Helmut Remschmidt

Myron Lowell Belfer

Around the world, a vast number of children and adolescents suffer from mental and neurological disorders and only a small proportion of them receive adequate care. This is so in both developing and developed countries. The need to raise awareness about this problem and provide specific advice regarding their prevention and treatment was identified as a priority for the World Psychiatric Association by Professor Ahmed Okasha during his Presidency of the Association and resulted in the creation of his Presidential Programme on Child Mental Health. This book presents some of the fruits of this programme and constitutes a global call to action for mental health workers and policy makers. The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: An area of global neglect brings together information on the burden of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence with methods of raising public awareness of these problems. The book also describes therapeutic and preventive interventions that could diminish them. It then presents the results of field studies in Brazil, Egypt and Russia documenting the effectiveness of interventions to prevent school dropout in those three very different countries. With its emphasis on practical guidance for the development of interventions to prevent or treat child and adolescent mental health, The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents: An area of global neglect provides much-needed information of direct interest to health professionals and the many others involved in the provision of health care to children and adolescents in both the developing and the developed countries.

An area of global neglect

The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

Hugh Schulze

Details the results of the Open Doors Programme, set up to fight the stigma/discrimination attached to schizophrenia.

A Report from a Global Association

Reducing the Stigma of Mental Illness

Maurizio Pompili

Andrea Fiorillo

Mario Luciano

Patients with severe mental disorders (SMD), including major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and related spectrum disorders, have a reduced life expectancy of 10-25 year compared with the general population. This life expectancy gap is mainly due to the co-occurrence of many physical diseases, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV. Factors contributing to the reduced life expectancy can be grouped into three main categories: a) factors related to the patient; b) factors related to clinicians; and c) factors related to the health system. As regards the first group, patients with SMD often adopt unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, including heavy smoking, reduced physical activity, sedentary behaviors, poor diet and alcohol or drug abuse, and are reluctant to seek for physical care with GPs and other medical specialists. Increasing the levels of physical activity, improving the dietary patterns, and reducing the smoking habits of people with severe mental disorders represent a global health challenge and a public health priority. Until now, attempts made to reduce this mortality gap have acted at three different levels: health system level, physician level, and patient level. The third-level interventions include electronic alerts through smartphones and web-based platforms, intensive case management, promotion of healthy habits, complex psychosocial interventions. Several population-based studies have showed that lifestyle behaviors are amenable to change through the adoption of specific psychosocial interventions. However, most clinical guidelines, although emphasizing the importance of health monitoring and regular check-ups for patients with severe mental illnesses, do not make specific recommendations on the provision of lifestyle interventions. These lifestyle-oriented interventions, consisting of behavioral, educational, and psychological components, have been conducted mainly in research settings, and have shown a good impact on patients’ physical health. Despite this, their feasibility in routine settings has not been tested yet. It seems to be clinically and ethically relevant to develop, validate and carry out interventions to improve the lifestyle’s behaviors of patients with severe mental disorders, to reduce the presence of comorbidities and to improve their life expectancy. In this Research Topic we will summarize the available knowledge of the efficacy and effectiveness of psychosocial interventions aimed at improving healthy lifestyle behaviors and promoting the physical health of patients with severe mental disorders. Total number of articles: 19

Reducing the Mortality Gap in People with Severe Mental Disorders: the Role of Lifestyle Psychosocial Interventions

Juan José López-Ibor

George Christodoulou

This title provides a comprehensive overview of clinical, epidemiological, psychobiological, psychosocial and service organization aspects of disaster psychiatry. It takes a practical approach and includes a series of reports on significant experiences made in this field in various regions of the world. An Unbiased and reliable reference point, endorsed by the WPA Includes contributions from internationally acclaimed experts

Disasters and Mental Health

Hagop S. Akiskal

Juan José Lopez-Ibor

Contributi di: Hagop S. Akiskal, Mark S. Bauer, Charles L. Bowden, Peter Brieger, Carrie L. Ernst, Joseph Goldberg, Nathan Herrmann, Anthony Levitt, Andreas Marneros, Ayal Schafer, Kenneth I. Shulman.

Disturbo bipolare

Fritz Henn

Hans Lauter

The German version of this work has a long tradition, and this fourth edition is the first to see an English version. Its main feature is the international approach regarding both authors and topics. The four internationally renowned editors were able to acquire the leading specialists for each field as contributors to the book. No less than 120 authors, half of them from non-German speaking countries, ensure an extremely high standard and that cross-cultural aspects are considered. Another major feature is that the book presents the evidence such that it may be examined from at least four different entry points -- via basic disciplines of psychiatric knowledge about groups defined by demographic criteria. Detailed linkages to other chapters allow the inclusion of neighbouring disciplines, such as the neurosciences and molecular biology. Contemporary Psychiatry is also unique in including chapters on psychiatric disorders caused by catastrophes, disasters etc. -- aspects totally neglected by normal textbooks. While this book gives an overall view of the state of the art of psychiatric knowledge, it even goes so far as to suggest future perspectives.

Contemporary Psychiatry

Alexander Glassman

Mario M. Maj

Recently, there has been a growing awareness of the multiple interrelationships between depression and various physical diseases. Patients with psychiatric problems, particularly depression, may be more susceptible to cardiovascular disorders. Depression and Heart Disease synthesizes current evidence, including some previously unpublished data, in a concise, easy-to-read format. The authors succinctly describe the epidemiology, pathogenesis (including cytokines and genetics), and risk factors of the comorbidity between depression and heart disease. The book also reviews the best pharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches for people with this comorbidity.

Depression and Heart Disease

Joseph Zohar

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is probably the psychiatric disorder for which most significant progress has been made on the last 20 years concerning pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions. A number of studies have shown that OCD is much more prevalent than previously thought, occurring in an estimated 2% of the adult population around the world. A serious discrepancy still exists between research evidence and clinical practice and an update of this evidence and an international debate on it, as provided by this volume, is long overdue. This revised edition provides vital information on a considerably underdiagnosed condition. * Provides accompanying commentaries by an outstanding line up of contributors * Covers developments in diagnosis, therapy, prognosis, economic evaluation and quality improvement * Provides an unbiased and reliable reference point

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Julio Arboleda-Florez

Paradigms Lost challenges key paradigms currently held about the prevention or reduction of stigma attached to mental illness using evidence and the experience the authors gathered during the many years of their work in this field. Each chapter examines one currently held paradigm and presents reasons why it should be replaced with a new perspective. The book argues for enlightened opportunism (using every opportunity to fight stigma), rather than more time consuming planning, and emphasizes that the best way to approach anti-stigma work is to select targets jointly with those who are most concerned. The most radical change of paradigms concerns the evaluation of outcome for anti-stigma activities. Previously, changes in stigmatizing attitudes were used as the best indicator of success. Paradigms Lost and its authors argue that it is now necessary to measure changes in behaviors (both from the perspective of those stigmatized and those who stigmatize) to obtain a more valid measure of a program's success. Other myths to be challenged: providing knowledge about mental illness will reduce stigma; community care will de-stigmatize mental illness and psychiatry; people with a mental illness are less discriminated against in developing countries. Paradigms Lost concludes by describing key elements in successful anti stigma work including the recommended duration of anti-stigma programmes, the involvement of those with mental illness in designing programmes, and the definition of programmes in accordance with local circumstances. A summary of weaknesses of currently held paradigms and corresponding lists of best practice principles to guide future anti-stigma action and research bring this insightful volume to an apt conclusion.

Norman Sartorius

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