The Prevention of Mental Illness in Primary Care

With increasing international emphasis on care in the community and pressure on resources, the prevention of mental illness within primary care is becoming an important consideration. Up to a third of patients presenting to primary care services are suffering from psychological problems and the large majority are dealt with by the primary health care team. Within this volume, experts from a wide range of mental health care disciplines discuss issues ranging from primary prevention with identification of risk through to early identification of problem symptoms and the effective management of long-term mental illness. With full reference to the current state of research, emphasis has been given to practical measures that can be readily utilised in the primary care setting. This handbook will serve as an invaluable resource for all those with interests in the protection and conservation of mental health. This book was highly commended in the Primary Care category of the British Medical Association Book Award.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction P. Freeling and T. Kendrick; 2. Primary prevention of childhood mental health problems Q. Spender and P. Hill; 3. Primary prevention: assessing the relevance of life-events and difficulties among primary care attenders T. Harris; 4. The prevention of postnatal depression D. Sharp; 5. Bereavement C. Murray Parkes; 6. The role of counselling R. Corney; 7. The prevention of anxiety disorders H. Kennerley; 8. Secondary prevention of childhood mental health problems P. Hill and Q. Spender; 9. The secondary prevention of depression A.Tylee; 10. Early detection of psychosis in primary care T. Burns; 11. The prevention of eating disorders F. Raphael; 12. The prevention of alcohol and drug misuse H. Williams and H. Ghodse; 13. The prevention of mental illness in learning disability J. Curran and S. Hollins; 14. Preventing mental illness amongst people in ethnic minorities S. Patel; 15. Tertiary prevention of childhood mental health problems J. Turk; 16. Tertiary prevention: longer-term drug treatment in depression E. Paykel; 17. Tertiary prevention in depression: cognitive therapy and other psychological treatments J. Scott; 18. The regular review of patients with schizophrenia in primary care G. Strathdee and T. Kendrick; 19. The prevention of social disability in schizophrenia E. Kuipers; 20. Organising continuing care of the long-term mentally ill in general practice T. Kendrick; 21. The prevention of suicide P. Seager.

Review :
'... a remarkable book ... There is a great deal of practical wisdom in this book, which goes a long way to de-mystifying even the more alarming psychiatric disorders. It is a book that should be read, not left to fester on a shelf ... I was genuinely inspired by the prospect of just how much good might be achieved by a well-motivated, holistically informed primary health care team.' Scott Weich, Psychological Medicine ' ... a clear exposition of the current findings ... highly relevant to the needs of busy practitioners and their professional partners in primary care.' Christopher Dowrick, BMJ