Prevention in Psychiatry

Mental health promotion seeks to build good mental health through the promotion of attributes of positive mental health, especially that of resilience, while the goal of prevention is to reduce the risk factors associated with the emergence of mental disorders. Mental health promotion and prevention activities must be rooted in an understanding of the biological, social, physical, and environmental determinants of mental health, including brain development, gene expression, and intergenerational experiences through the life span. Rooted in a public health approach, these activities should pay particular attention to specific target groups, such as those defined by age, gender, and occupation and to settings of implementation which may include school, workplace, prisons, residence, and the health sector. While it is important to set international and national goals and targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations General Assembly. Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/ , 2015), primary healthcare, working in collaboration with other key sectors including education, social service, and justice, is a key setting in which to deliver mental health promotion and prevention. In low- and middle-income countries where resources are limited, innovative steps can be taken to engage with traditional and faith healers to expand the reach of promotion and prevention activities. Governments everywhere need to take proactive steps to promote mental health and prevent mental illness. Reflecting the multidimensional nature of the task, one way of doing this is to establish federal, national, and regional intersectoral committees that can work to encourage and harness multiagency collaboration to promote positive mental health, build individual resilience, and address determinants of mental ill-health for the local community.