Figures
The Paradox of Mental Health: Over-Treatment and Under-Recognition
In their monthly editorial, the PLOS Medicine Editors reflect on the "paradox" of mental health. On the one hand, mental health issues are often over-treated and over-medicalized, leading to "selling sickness" as reflected in recent debates and concern about the DSM-5. But on the other hand, there are still millions of people across the globe suffering with mental health, neurological, or substance use disorders that go unrecognized and untreated, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Over the years, PLOS Medicine has published many papers on global mental health, particularly in its Magazine section. All of these analyses were done by researchers free of financial links to manufacturers with a stake in expanded markets, thus providing the necessary independent opinion.
The global understanding of mental health is still relatively underdeveloped, however. In this editorial, PLOS Medicine reaffirms our commitment to publishing rigorous, insightful research and commentary on a broad range of issues around global mental health.
Image Credit: Simon Daniel Photography at Flickr
Citation: (2013) PLOS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 10(5) May 2013. PLOS Med 10(5): ev10.i05. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pmed.v10.i05
Published: May 28, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 Simon Daniel Photography. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
In their monthly editorial, the PLOS Medicine Editors reflect on the "paradox" of mental health. On the one hand, mental health issues are often over-treated and over-medicalized, leading to "selling sickness" as reflected in recent debates and concern about the DSM-5. But on the other hand, there are still millions of people across the globe suffering with mental health, neurological, or substance use disorders that go unrecognized and untreated, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Over the years, PLOS Medicine has published many papers on global mental health, particularly in its Magazine section. All of these analyses were done by researchers free of financial links to manufacturers with a stake in expanded markets, thus providing the necessary independent opinion.
The global understanding of mental health is still relatively underdeveloped, however. In this editorial, PLOS Medicine reaffirms our commitment to publishing rigorous, insightful research and commentary on a broad range of issues around global mental health.
Image Credit: Simon Daniel Photography at Flickr