This is the only text to give your students a complete, concise overview of mental health and all the issues that surround it from a theoretical and practical point of view. Split into three sections, the book defines mental health and mental health ill, examines the services and settings in which mental health care takes place and and discusses the societal issues surrounding mental health. Made up of 63 bite-sized chapters, the book offers: * Definitions of the key concepts * Key points that you need to know for your study and practice * Further reading to help you expand your knowledge It will be essential reading for students of health, nursing, mental health, social work and social care. It is also valuable reading for students of counselling and psychotherapy.

Author Biography

David Pilgrim is Honorary Professor of Health and Social Policy, University of Liverpool, UK and Visiting Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Southampton. After training and working as a clinical psychologist he completed a PhD examining psychotherapy in the organisational setting of the British NHS. He then went on to complete a Master's in sociology. He has worked at the boundary between clinical psychology and medical sociology for the past 20 years and has produced over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals, based upon his research into mental health policy and practice. His years working in the British NHS provided him with extensive everyday experience of the theoretical and policy aspects of mental health expressed in practical settings. One of his books, A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness (3rd edition, Open University Press, 2005), co-authored with Anne Rogers, won the British Medical Association's medical book of the year award for 2006. Currently he is writing a book on child sexual abuse and public policy.