Mental illnesses are common and cause great suffering to individuals and communities everywhere in the world, but many health workers are more comfortable dealing with physical illness. This practical manual of mental health care is vital for community health workers, primary care nurses, social workers and primary care doctors, particularly in low-resource settings. This guide gives the reader a basic understanding of mental illness by describing more than thirty clinical problems associated with mental illness and uses a problem-solving approach to guide the reader through their assessment and management. Mental health issues as they arise in specific contexts are described - in refugee camps, in school health programmes, as well as in mental health promotion. The final section helps the reader to personalise for a particular location, for example, by entering local information on voluntary agencies, the names and costs of medicines and words in the local language for symptoms. This product is also available as Open Access.

'The first edition of this book has been a tremendously helpful resource in the humanitarian settings where I have worked over the last fifteen years. The new edition is now firmly aligned with the tools of the mhGAP programme which will make it an invaluable resource for health workers and others who wish to learn what they can do to help people with mental health conditions.' Peter Ventevogel, Senior Mental Health Officer, Public Health Section, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva

Vikram Patel is the Pershing Square Professor of Global Health and Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. He works in India with Sangath and the Public Health Foundation of India. Charlotte Hanlon is an Associate Professor at Addis Ababa University and Clinical Senior Lecturer at King's College London. She lives and works in Ethiopia.