Social Perspectives in Mental Health

This comprehensive volume offers a whole new practice framework that helps to make sense of people's mental distress and recovery in relation to their social experience. The book presents a wide range of views of the social and political dimensions of mental health and distress, taking into account social environment, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and biopsychological and social models. Adopting a user-focused, holistic approach to mental health practice, the contributors argue, is vital to better reflect the needs and aspirations of service users and complements traditional biomedical, psychological and practical social work perspectives. Drawing on the expertise of contributors from academic, policy and practice settings as well as lived experience, this book is essential reading for practitioners and students in the fields of mental health and social work.