Social determinants and mental health

Abstract

Mental health and mental illness are many-faceted and related to social, psychological and biological factors. In this context, the aspect of the social determinants of health is perhaps the most complex and challenging of all. The term 'social determinants of health' describes the conditions in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, which includes the health system. This book is dedicated to these complex and continually varying determinants, keeping in mind that as early as 2005 the WHO instituted a commission to deal with the social determinants of health. The substance of this book is a discourse about health and, more particularly, mental health. © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.