Mental Health Work

This course provides an introduction to different perspectives concerning mental problems and mental health work. With a focus on different epidemiological studies, the first parts of the course provide an overview of current scope, trends, and developments. Different perspectives (sociological, psychological, medical) regarding cause and background will be presented. The second part describes and discusses the design and evolution of present-day support services. The purpose is to place current developments and solutions into perspective, including discussing how these choices are partly contingent on economic and political circumstances, and partly by changing ideologies. Questions that will be addressed include dismantling of the centralised institutional system, development of community-based, local alternatives, and contemporary issues such as use of compulsory force, user-participation, and recovery.

Give knowledge about different topics within the field of mental health work, including epidemiological patterns, organization of services and reform work.

Teaching method and activities: Lectures, seminars.