On Sounds Good, Tracy Ross and Dr. Michael Bordieri discuss the way mental health professionals are working to build a global mental health infrastructure.
Bordieri says there is an unmet need worldwide for mental health services. He says 14 percent or more of global health costs are attributed to mental health issues, equaling to about a trillion dollars a year according to some estimates. But there are new initiatives to increase the accessibility and effectiveness of treatments around the world by partnering with mental health professionals in their home regions.
Bordieri says there have been many failed attempts at bringing standardized care into other cultures, so therapies are being adapted to individual communities. In some areas, family structure, religious ceremonies, and healing practices are incorporated into standard western treatment. Bordieri says this makes the treatments more effective and also gives western psychologists and psychiatrists a broader understanding of mental health.
