Societal Framework of Psychiatry

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a background to the discussion of the elements of the context in which psychiatric care and research take place. It is clear that attitudes held by populations affect the priority given to mental health care and that the principle of distributive justice is therefore not respected in the instance of mental health care. Consequently at least psychiatric policy should adapt the mental health care services more specifically to the needs of the mentally ill, should target these needs more specifically, should improve the capacity of general practitioners (GPs) to recognise mental disorders, should motivate the GP to coordinate the treatment of mentally ill patients with the psychiatrist, and should increase the general awareness of the public towards the needs of the mentally ill and the treatments psychiatry has to offer. One of this necessary actions is the international campaign to fight the stigma of mental disorder and of psychiatry (Sartorius 2006). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)