Author Archives: in2mentalhealth

Global Mental Health News

Info from and between mental health workers, NGO’s, institutes, and others who are interested in improving mental health in low and middle income countries. Special attention for ehealth, elearning, ict4d

in2mentalhealth closes down

picelephantgoodbyeDear in2mentalhealth visitor, reader, fan,

Somewhere in the last 6 years you visited and maybe started following the in2mentalhealth website. Thank you for that! Although being a blogger and admin was a great adventure and pleasure, I decided to quit updating and blogging recently. New updates on Twitter and Facebook will also be very limited from now on.

The first reason for my decision is that I don’t have enough time to continue with this work properly. I can’t keep up with all the new information and developments. I’m a clinical psychologist and my main and paid job is in an outpatient mental health clinic in the Netherlands. This exciting work, together with some study and local volunteering work, is consuming all my time and energy at this moment.
The other reason is that at the start of in2mentalhealth in 2010, there was hardly anything on global mental health and psychosocial support on the internet. I was one of the very first and few information brokers at that time. Nowadays you can find many interesting and valuable information and network sites and social media pages to visit and follow. The necessity to blog and circulate helpful information with the in2mentalhealth website has vanished over the last 6 years, which is actually good.

I still think that the new technologies like apps, SMS and internet, are not enough used in the field of global mental health and psychosocial support. Still some material is not free accessible on the internet (like the book ‘Where there is no Psychiatrist’). And still, for example, the WHO mhGAP Intervention Guide is not available on a smart phone and tablet app! These are still considerable annoyances for me. I hope my blog posts and updates in the last six years have contributed to some progress in this field, but still much has to been explored and developed. My hope, in this regard, is now on the new generation mental health workers, service users and policy makers. Maybe on you?

So, dear visitor, reader, fan, thank you so much for visiting my website and reading my blog posts and updates.

And I wish all of you a very good, healthy, inspiring and fruitful 2017!

Roos Korste, psychologist and international trainer, Netherlands

The ‘better prognosis hypothesis’ for schizophrenia in poor countries. Is it the medication?

Glenn Brady The Schizophrenic, the bipolar and the manic-depressive

Glenn Brady The Schizophrenic, the bipolar and the manic-depressive

Since decades the ‘better prognosis hypothesis’ keeps looming in international research and debates. It’s the assumption, or conclusion, from international research, that outcomes for schizophrenia are better in developing countries compared with developed countries.. Continue reading

15 Global Mental Health Information and Network Websites

Attention: Due to time constraints, I was forced to stop updating this list by January 2015. The information will be outdated soon. Sorry, I hope you will find your information elsewhere on the internet.

Some of the most (cost) effective ways to improve Mental Health and in Low and Middle Income Countries are:
-Free sharing and dissemination of knowledge and tools via the internet
-Concerted global advocacy and innovation activities
-Possibilities for workers service users to connect and network with others

There are a couple of very valuable websites that offer these things. Sites that build bridges between organizations and/or give voice to people in the field. Here is a list of 15 of them.

I will start with the most interactive websites and end with the more static ones: Continue reading

End of the year read: Mental Health Care News from Asia

image from transitionsabroad

image from transitionsabroad

This article is a trip through the current mental health field of Asia in 51 recent articles about 16 Asian countries.
Mental health services, legislation and capacity building on the Asian continent are developing step by step, although great challenges remain as you can read.
Not all countries and topics are included; it’s just an attempt to give you an impression about what’s going on and how it is reported. Continue reading

Global Mental Health Inside Story: Haitham Assim Abd Alrazak, Baghdad, Iraq

picGMHISHaithamprofileThis is the 8th story in the Global Mental Health Inside Stories series. In this series I want to collect and spread information/ideas from people active in mental health from all over the world and specially from low resource settings or fragile countries.
I hope this series contributes to more insight in the challenges and wishes from people active in these settings and adds to a more bottom up movement in global mental health.
Haitham Assim Abd Alrazak answered the 10 interview questions follows: Continue reading

What can YOU do on World Mental Health Day 10-10-2013?

picWorld-Mental-Health-Day-10-October-badge-HD-PicturesEvery 10th of October it’s World Mental Health Day. This is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It’s an initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and was first celebrated in 1992.
Today each 10th of October thousands of supporters come to celebrate this annual awareness program to bring attention to mental illness and its major effects on peoples’ life worldwide. In some countries this day is part of the larger Mental Illness Awareness Week. The theme of this year is ‘Mental Health and Older Adults’. Continue reading

Global Mental Health Inside Story: Joseph Atukunda, Kampala, Uganda

picGMHISJosepgprofilepicThis is the seventh interview in the Global Mental Health Inside Stories series. In this series I want to collect and spread information/ideas from people active in mental health from all over the world and specially from low resource settings or fragile countries.
I hope this series contributes to more insight in the challenges and wishes from people active in these settings and adds to a more bottom up movement in global mental health.
Joseph Atukunda answered the 10 interview questions as follows: Continue reading

Global Mental Health Inside Story: Olena Zhabenko, Kiev, Ukraine

picGMHOSOlenaProfilePic

This is the sixth interview in the Global Mental Health Inside Stories series.
In this series I want to collect and spread information/ideas from people active in mental health from all over the world and specially from low resource settings or fragile countries.

I hope this series contributes to more insight in the challenges and wishes from people active in these settings and adds to a more bottom up movement in global mental health.

Olena Zhabenko answered the 10 interview questions as follows: Continue reading

Is Global Mental Health ready for Education 3.0?

An exciting journey along recent innovations and developments in education, and a plea for a shift in the teaching/training approach in the global mental health.

Introduction:
The problem: All low income countries face a huge shortage of mental health care staff. There are even countries with no or only one psychiatrist and some without any specialized mental health care provider. That’s why capacity building in this sector is one of the main challenges.

photo from CORDAID mental health capacity building session in Haiti, 2011

photo from CORDAID mental health capacity building session in Haiti, 2011

But most NGOs and education institutes in this field still have a strong ‘bricks and mortar’ and 1.0 education approach, where there is a one-way dissemination of knowledge from teacher/trainer to student/health worker with books/manuals and lectures/slides. Where scaling up capacity building means distributing more manuals/books and the deployment of more trainers and tutors.
I don’t think we can solve the immense workforce gap in mental health if we keep on focusing on this 1.0 education. Continue reading

Global Mental Health Inside Stories: Ignicious Murambidzi, Harare, Zimbabwe

This is the fifth interview in the Global Mental Health Inside Stories series. In this series I want to collect and spread information/ideas from people active in mental health from all over the world and specially from low resource settings or fragile countries.
I hope this series contributes to more insight in the challenges and wishes from people active in these settings and adds to a more bottom up movement in global mental health.
Ignicious Murambidzi from Zimbabwe answered the 10 interview questions as follows: Continue reading