SOCW 5311 - Global Mental Health

Credits: 3 Class: 3 Lab: 0
Prerequisite(s): Admission to MSW program
Common mental disorders like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress are leading causes of disability worldwide. The purpose of this course is to explore the enormous disease burden of mental disorders in the global context and understand the treatment gap that exists in the low and middle-income countries around the world. This course exposes students to the presentations of common mental disorders and evidence-based treatment options for low resource settings. This course will be taught through a human rights and social justice lens, with particular emphasis on promoting the rights and dignity of individuals with mental disorders and reducing stigma and discrimination.

By the end of this course students will be able to understand the value of mental health as an important component of overall health and the connectedness of mental health to other health conditions, identify the common presentations of mental, and substance abuse disorders, critically analyze the role of poverty, unemployment, violence and inequality in mental illness, illustrate the inequitable access to mental health care in their context, understand the mental health treatment gap in low and middle income countries, know and be capable of applying evidence based psychosocial treatments for low resource settings, and apply an understanding of and commitment to promoting social justice and human rights in working with the mentally ill.