AFRO-NETS> 'Where There Is No Psychiatrist'

[Carrie Davis <cdavis@rcpsych.ac.uk>]

'Where There Is No Psychiatrist'
--------------------------------

Written by Dr Vikram Patel, this highly illustrated manual aims to 
de-mystify mental health problems and their treatments for general 
health workers using a simple clinical approach. Dr Patel has worked 
in Zimbabwe and India for over ten years and felt that the training 
manuals for community workers which he saw were too influenced by 
biomedical psychiatry.

He says, "General terms such as depression and psychoses were often 
used. These words fail to translate into many languages, and are also 
laden with stigma and doubt about the skills needed to help manage 
them". The similarity of the manual's title to the well known 'Where 
There Is No' series is not coincidental; Dr Patel was heavily in-
spired by David Werner's classic 'Where There Is No Doctor'.

Following an introduction to mental health, 'Where There Is No Psy-
chiatrist' describes over 30 common or important clinical problems 
associated with mental illness, taking a problem-solving approach to 
diagnosis and management. It includes coverage of mental health is-
sues as they arise in specific healthcare contexts, e.g. refugee 
camps, school health programmes, with AIDS sufferers. This problem 
and context oriented approach is a key deviation from the traditional 
approach to writing this type of mental health manual. Final chapters 
are designed so that readers can personalise the manual for a spe-
cific location or local language. Also included are quick reference 
flow-charts, a glossary of technical terms and a guide to the use of 
psychiatric medicines and simple psychological treatments.

The first chapter of 'Where There Is No Psychiatrist', the full con-
tents list and further information can be viewed at:
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/gaskell/75_7.htm

The manual is available from: 
Book Sales
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
17 Belgrave Square
London SW1X 8PG, UK
Tel: +44-20-7235-2351 ext 146
Fax: +44-20-7245-1231. 

It is priced at 8 Pounds Sterling (approx. 12 US dollars). The College 
has endeavoured to keep the price as low as possible and will not 
charge any extra for post and packing on overseas surface mail deliv-
eries. Online ordering is possible from the above link.

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