Building a New Community Psychology of Mental Health

This book provides a much-needed account of informal community-based approaches to working with mental distress. It starts from the premise that contemporary mainstream psychiatry and psychology struggle to capture how distress results from complex embodied arrays of social experiences that are embedded within specific historical, cultural, political and economic settings. The authors challenge mainstream understandings of mental health that position a naive public in need of mental health literacy. Instead it is clear that a considerable amount of invaluable mental distress work is undertaken in spaces in our communities that are not understood as mental health treatments. This book represents one of the first attempts to position these kinds of spaces at the center of how we understand and address problems of mental distress and suffering. The chapters draw on case studies from the UK and abroad to point toward an exciting new paradigm based on informal community and socially oriented approaches to mental health. Written in an unusually accessible and engaging style, this book will appeal to social science students, academics, practitioners and policy makers interested in community and social approaches to mental health.

“"Carl Walker, Angie Hart, and Paul Hanna provide an insightful and at times humorous (Martian visitor) critique of the mental health system in the United Kingdom for people with 'mental distress' and 'misery.' The authors' utilization of case studies adds a human face to problems and issues confronting individuals with severe and chronic mental illness. While research based, the authors' deliberate and engaging writing style would appeal to diverse groups that might include policy makers, practitioners, academics, and students." (David B. Jones, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (51), December, 2017)”

“Carl Walker, Angie Hart, and Paul Hanna provide an insightful and at times humorous (Martian visitor) critique of the mental health system in the United Kingdom for people with ‘mental distress’ and ‘misery.’ The authors’ utilization of case studies adds a human face to problems and issues confronting individuals with severe and chronic mental illness. While research based, the authors’ deliberate and engaging writing style would appeal to diverse groups that might include policy makers, practitioners, academics, and students.” (David B. Jones, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (51), December, 2017)​

Carl Walker is Principle Lecturer in Psychology and course leader for the MA Community Psychology at the University of Brighton, UK.
Angie Hart is Professor of Child, Family and Community Health at the University of Brighton, UK.
Paul Hanna is Chartered Psychologist and Lecturer in Sustainable Tourism at the University of Surrey, UK.

This book provides a much-needed account of informal community-based approaches to working with mental distress. It starts from the premise that contemporary mainstream psychiatry and psychology struggle to capture how distress results from complex embodied arrays of social experiences that are embedded within specific historical, cultural, political and economic settings. The authors challenge mainstream understandings of mental health that position a naive public in need of mental health literacy. Instead it is clear that a considerable amount of invaluable mental distress work is undertaken in spaces in our communities that are not understood as mental health treatments. This book represents one of the first attempts to position these kinds of spaces at the center of how we understand and address problems of mental distress and suffering. The chapters draw on case studies from the UK and abroad to point toward an exciting new paradigm based on informal community and socially oriented approaches to mental health. Written in an unusually accessible and engaging style, this book will appeal to social science students, academics, practitioners and policy makers interested in community and social approaches to mental health.

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