The focus of this book is the paradoxical effect on mental health of social crises. When social crises occur, there is an upsurge in psychological suffering due to an intensification of such social insanities as violence, inequality, selfishness, stupidity, and insecurity. Paradoxically, there are positive consequences for mental health due to the proliferation of acts of kindness, cooperation, and community, and the persistence of the ability to cope and hope.
Two interconnected categories of social crises are covered in the book. These are: contagions (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous outbreaks of plague and smallpox since medieval times, and the 1918 influenza pandemic); conflicts (including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and aspects of world war such as the Holocaust, the use of nuclear bombs in the 2nd Word War, and the climate emergency). What is also explored in the book is whether there is an amplification of everyday difficulties whereby having a 'mental health problem' has become normalised. The idea of 'mental-healthism' is introduced to explain the cultural shift towards this apparent normalisation of ordinary psychological suffering.
The book will be of interest to students, practitioners, and researchers from sociology, psychology, nursing, social work, and psychiatry, among others.
About the Author: Peter Morrall is Visiting Associate Professor in Health and Sociology at the University of Leeds, UK, and a Tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of York, UK. Morrall has worked in the mental health field, and researched, written, and taught about the subject for decades.