Global Mental Health and Neuroethics

Global Mental Health and Neuroethics explores conceptual, ethical and clinical issues that have emerged with the expansion of clinical neuroscience into middle- and low-income countries. Conceptual issues covered include avoiding scientism and skepticism in global mental health, integrating evidence-based and value-based global medicine, and developing a welfarist approach to the practice of global psychiatry. Ethical issues addressed include those raised by developments in neurogenetics, cosmetic psychopharmacology and deep brain stimulation. Perspectives drawing on global mental health and neuroethics are used to explore a number of different clinical disorders and developmental stages, ranging from childhood through to old age.

"Physically, the book itself is soft bound in a light blue color with a graphic on the cover. It is printed on glossy paper throughout the 294 pages and a few figures are interspersed in the text throughout the volume, which facilitates an easy flow of reading. Each book chapter is organized with cited references at the end. Overall, the volume represents a novel introduction to a body of research that all mental health professionals should be familiar with as we serve a global, diverse population. The book is informative, interesting, and offers insight to complex ethical and conceptual issues that become clearer as the reader learns about clinical decision making in settings with non-Western values and customs. The process of change begins with awareness, so educational non-traditional mental health texts, such as this volume, remain important for the growth of global mental health care." --Lena Dobson, Ph.D. Independent Practice

Professor Dan J. Stein is Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Stein’s research areas include anxiety, trauma-, and stressor-related disorders. His work ranges from basic neuroscience, through clinical investigations and trials, and on to epidemiological and cross-cultural studies. Ilina Singh is a Professor of Neuroscience and Society at the University of Oxford. Dr. Singh holds a doctorate in human development and psychology from Harvard University. She brings this interdisciplinary perspective to her current research through an approach known as empirical ethics. Her research focuses on the social and ethical dimensions of innovations in neuroscience, psychiatry, and related areas. She has contributed to various scientific and policy groups, and is the co-chair of the Ethics Advisory Board for the EU-AIMS project on autism treatments and is an expert advisor for the National Autism Project.