Abstract

Duncan Pedersen and the integral study of Global Mental Health. Rev Neuropsiquiatr [online]. 2017, vol.80, n.1, pp.70-74. ISSN 0034-8597.  http://dx.doi.org/10.20453/rnp.v80i1.3061.

Global Mental Health (GMH), a relatively recent conceptualization of theoretical, clinical and heuristic aspects of mental illness, its etio-pathogenesis, variants and management modalities from the Public Health perspective across the world, is the subject of this brief review, primarily based on the contributions of Duncan Pedersen a recently deceased renowned Argentine-Canadian psychiatrist, anthropologist and researcher, Faculty member at McGill University and author of numerous studies in Perú and several other countries. His work emphasized objective and humanistically conceived approaches to the use of local resources in combination with scientific, technological and financial advances in the context of social justice-oriented programs. Trauma and its numerous global sequelae at physical, emotional, individual and collective levels, constituted a primum inter pares factor of this approach leading to the finding of additional psychopathologies, epidemiological proofs and, at times, powerful discrepancies with the principles of Western medicine. Culturally-based management modalities, and the study of topics such as interand multi-disciplinary treatment, renewal of ethic concepts, resilience and other within and beyond neurobiological factors will bring up systematic and sustainable solutions to current and future GMH problems.

Keywords : Global Health; Global Mental Health; Public health; emotional trauma; violence.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )