Global Mental Health

3 units

What does global mental health mean for different actors and stakeholders? This course will examine the history, interventions, and critiques of global mental health. We will explore how diagnosis, distress, and treatment are experienced in different cultural and geographic contexts. Moreover, we will consider how biomedical psychiatry complements and conflicts with other forms of healing expertise. We will also consider mental health disparities, and critically reflect on the successes and challenges of global mental health interventions. This course will draw on materials from different disciplines, including anthropology, public health, psychiatry, social work, long form journalism, and guest speakers to examine topics in global mental health, such gender and sexuality, migration and displacement, environmental determinants and climate change, and global crises like COVID-19. Our course materials will draw on research carried out in a variety of locations, including the United States, India, Iran, Italy, Botswana, Brazil, and Thailand.