In the past century there has been awareness of the importance of a global public health perspective in understanding the etiology, course and treatment of mental disorders. However, just recently there has been a focus on population science and with it an evidence-based call to improving public mental health in communities. Mental Health in Public Health synthesizes important topics in public health psychiatry that were discussed at the American Psychopathological Association (APPA) meeting in 2010. The book, like the APPA meeting, aims to bring advanced knowledge of the social and environmental risk factors for psychiatric disorders, as well as ideas for preventing them. Chapters are written by experts from around the world and include such public health concerns as Veteran's mental health, mental health disparities among minorities, causes of addictions, and mortality of these disorders.

Mental Health Disparities: Populations at Risk 1.) Closing the Treatment Gap: A Global Health Perspective Vikram Patel, Mirja Koschorke and Martin Prince 2.) Addressing Addiction and High Risk Behaviors Using the Integrated Public Health and Public Safety Approach Wilson M. Compton and Redonna K. Chandler 3.) Mental Health Disparities among Latinos, the Fastest Growing Population in the US Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola and Linda Ziegahn 4.) Global Initiatives for HIV/AIDS and Programs Promoting Global Access to Mental Health Care: Putting Mental Health into Public Health Francine Cournos, Karen McKinnon and Milton Wainberg Conditional Disorders and the Public's Mental Health 5.) Veterans' Mental Health: The Effects of War Michael J. Lyons, Margo Genderson and Michael D. Grant 6.) Assessing the Link Between Disaster Exposure and Mental Illness Carol S. North 7.) Addiction to Drugs, Food, Gambling, Sex, and Technology: Shared Causal Mechanisms? Mark S. Gold, Lisa J. Merlo, Adrie W. Bruijnzeel, Anna Roytberg and Michael Herkov The Public's Mental Health from Youth to Older Age: Changing Landscapes or Stable Patterns? 8.) Personality Pathology, Health, and Social Adjustment in Later Life Thomas F. Oltmanns and Marci E.J. Gleason 9.) Mortality from Common Mental Disorders and Medical Conditions William W. Eaton, Martha Bruce, Alden L. Gross, O. Joseph Bienvenu, Rosa Crum and Linda B. Cottler 10.) Child Mental Health: Status of the Promise, the Reality, and the Future of Prevention John N. Constantino Issues that Shape the Debate about Public Mental Health 11.) Stigma of Mental Illness: A Global View Norman Sartorius 12.) The Social Determinants of Mental Health Sandro Galea and Maria Steenland 13.) HealthStreet: A Community Based Approach to Include Mental Health in Public Health Research Linda B. Cottler, Catina Callahan O'Leary, Catherine W. Striley 14.) Presidential Perspectives Alfred M. Freedman, Max Fink, Donald F. Klein, Murray Alpert, James E. Barrett, David L. Dunner, Katherine A. Halmi, Elliot S. Gershon, C. Robert Cloninger, Bruce P. Dohrenwend, David S. Janowsky, Ellen Frank, Judith L. Rapoport, Myrna M. Weissman, John E. Helzer, Charles F. Zorumski, William W. Eaton, Ming T. Tsuang, J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr, James J. Hudziak, Patrick E. Shrout, Darrel A. Regier, Linda B. Cottler Index

Edited by Linda Cottler , MPH, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO.

Linda B.Cottler, PhD, MPH, is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. She is Director of the EPRG, the Master of Psychiatric Epidemiology (MPE) program as well as the WU CTSA Center for Community Based Research., which is home to HealthStreet. Dr. Cottler has appointments in Occupational Therapy and Anthropology at Washington University and in Psychiatry at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

"This wide-ranging collection of papers illuminates many aspects of mental health as a public health concern. Whether readers' interest is childhood or old age, the United States or the developing world, depression or schizophrenia, they will find something to interest and inform them. Particularly insightful are the "Presidential Perspectives" in which past presidents of APPA muse on what the future holds for psychiatry, in the context of public health. Medical education in the United States largely ignores public health. This book can help to open clinicians' eyes to the gains that can be made by taking a public health approach to some of the seemingly intractable problems of mental disorders worldwide." --- E. Jane Costello, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC

"Mental Health in Public Health is two books in one. Part 1 is a compilation of thoughtful chapters demonstrating the critical role that mental health plays in the public health of populations around the world. Each of the chapters is a variation and exposition on the theme that mental health and public health are two sides of the same coin. The value of this concept is shown from childhood to old age, from the healthy to the medically unhealthy, from populations living in peace to those exposed to the horrors of war, from low income populations and countries to wealthy populations and countries." -- Evelyn J. Bromet, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Putnam Hall-South Campus, Stony Brook, NY