Convergence Mental Health

Mental health conditions are a key contributor to the global burden of disease and disability. The devastating impact of these conditions is even more apparent as the world faces global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, societal inequity, and more. At the same time, the human brain, thought, and behavior are the most complex objects of human science. To make progress, we need a fundamental shift in our approach. Convergence science, which integrates expertise from diverse fields to form comprehensive frameworks to address specific challenges, holds promise for tackling the global mental health crisis. Convergence Mental Health deftly makes the case that a convergence approach is urgently needed to tackle the global mental health crisis and provides a roadmap for change." * Victor Dzau, MD, President, National Academy of Medicine *
Fifty years since we developed the modern classification of psychiatric disorders and billions of dollars of research which followed, we still have no definitive causal mechanism, effective prevention or curative intervention for any disorder. Business as usual, or even an incremental change, is a wholly unsatisfactory and inadequate response to this challenge. This book demonstrates, with compelling examples, that a convergence of disciplines and perspectives are needed to transform our understanding of mental health across the life course and to realize our shared goals of reducing the suffering due to mental health problems globally." - Vikram Patel, MD, FMedSci, The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health and Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School Professor, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Co-Founder and Member of Managing Committee, Sangath
Considering concurrent trends related to persistent and emerging mental health needs, fractured and dysfunctional systems of care, and global population aging, the sheer magnitude of the challenges before us can be daunting. Convergence Mental Health calls for the very type of new thinking and innovative frameworks that will enable us to deliver desperately needed technologies, services, and approaches that will improve lives, now, and well into the future. For those bold enough to think big while wise enough to appreciate the value of starting where we are, this book will serve as a welcome resource, guide, and companion." - Scott A. Kaiser, MD, Aging Services Innovation Executive and Geriatrician, Chief Innovation Officer, Motion Picture Television Fund Director, Geriatric Cognitive Health, Pacific Neuroscience Institute Adjunct Faculty, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
Convergence Mental Health is a paradigm shifting book that breaks us out of the reductionistic approach to mental illness. The authors collectively show us the way forward with tools from technology integrated as an innovative bridge to a new approach to improving mental health that respects the complexity of brain function yet tackles the vexing problems that occur when illness interferes with that brain function." - Stephen M. Stahl MD PhD DSc (Hon), Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego and University of California Riverside, Honorary Fellow, University of Cambridge, Director of Psychopharmacology, California Department of State Hospitals, Editor-in-Chief, CNS Spectrums
The complexity of mental disorders deserves a strategy that goes beyond simple explanations and magic bullet solutions. Convergence Mental Health provides a roadmap for what a complex, trans-disciplinary, transformative approach might be. An approach that includes the innovations from the technology revolution along with new insights from neuroscience and cognitive science offers unprecedented promise for people struggling with complex brain disorders. But crossing the bridge from technology and science to healthcare and health outcomes will require a new roadmap. This volume maps out that road, inviting a new generation of innovators to help a population in profound and urgent need." - Thomas R. Insel, MD, Co-Founder and Chair, NEST Health, Former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Former Head of Mental Health at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences)
Mental disorders are among mankind's most devastating conditions and exact a tremendous personal, familial and societal toll. Convergence Mental Health provides a very thoughtful approach towards developing a strong, united, cross-disciplinary approach towards a key common goal: to improve the lives of patients. The authors also admirably highlight the key role that digital technologies may have to help address some of these deep challenges; and put forth a framework for this work to be done rigorously, collaboratively, in an ethically-driven and culturally sound manner." - Husseini K Manji, M.D., FRCPC, Global Head, Neuroscience Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Former Director of NIMH Laboratory of Molecular Pathophysiology and Director of NIMH Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program
The world is amid a Fourth Industrial Revolution that has improved quality of life in so many ways. However, we have seen limited benefits of this innovation applied to mental health, which happens to be one of the greatest sources of human suffering today. We are still reliant on subjective diagnostics, psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals invented decades ago. Eyre and colleagues provide a unique road map for creating a new pathway for innovation in mental health by harnessing a cross disciplinary approach - which has already proven to work in so many other industries. This book inspires us to see the untapped potential of innovation to transform people's lives through a unique formula of collaboration, and makes the case that we already have many of the ingredients we need to pursue major advancements." - Jeremy Kranz, Technology Investor and Mental Health Advocate, SVP & Head, Global Technology Investment Group at GIC, Co-Head, The Bridge Forum, Board Member, Treatment Advocacy Center
As the next technological revolution is transforming humanity, we will see the disintegration of boundaries among the physical, digital, and biological worlds. Safeguards that ensure responsible limits on technology must be undertaken; particularly as global mental health is impacted by these changes. Convergence Mental Health provides a 'must-read' overview of the promises and perils of frontier technologies in mental health." -Ernestine Fu, PhD, Partner at Alsop Louie Partners, Lecturer at Stanford University, Author of "Civic Work Civic Lessons" and "Renewed Energy"
As we enter an era where we are learning enough about the brain to alter its function by design, rather than by serendipity, we urgently require bold, transdisciplinary strategies that seek to bridge the chasms that currently separate understanding of the mind from understanding of its physiological substrates. This book offers a bold step in that direction and provides an example of transdisciplinary synthesis sorely needed right now. From bioinformatics, through applications of artificial intelligence and advanced technology to improve efficacy and access, to establishing the social and political frameworks that will enable our society to promote the greater good, this work is audacious in its coverage, and that is exactly what we require." - Robert M Bilder PhD ABPP-CN, Michael E. Tennenbaum Distinguished Professor of Creativity Research, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior at UCLA, Chair, Disruptive Technology Initiative of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology
Equitable access to mental health care is a critical human rights priority. This is particularly true for rural, remote, Indigenous and Tropical communities. I applaud the Editors of Convergence Mental Health for emphasizing these issues and the impressive and diverse expertise they have brought together to explore novel solutions and inform policy for future decades." - Ian Wronski AO, Professor and Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Member, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Life Sciences Innovation Forum Board, Immediate Past Chair, Australian Council of Pro-Vice Chancellors and Deans of Health Science, Past President, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
Convergence Mental Health is a timely and welcome idea, rich in potential to rid the world of the distressing, disabling, deadly, economically burdensome and preventable effects of mental disorders. For this, Convergence Mental Health can usefully focus on specific problem-solving objectives. Prevention is one. That is, prevention of the onset of mental distress and disorder early in life and chronicity later in life and prevention of premature death triggered by suicide and hastened by depression among cardiovascular and cancer patients." - Bill Wilkerson, LL. D. (Hon), Executive Chairman, Mental Health International Industry Professor, International Mental Health, McMaster University
Separation and isolation are features of many mental health problems. Why are they also features of our health systems attempts to fix them? This book is a bold and informed attempt to show a new way." - Harold Mitchell, AC, Philanthropist, Founder, Harold Mitchell Foundation
This is a timely, highly innovative volume that discusses in great depth the new opportunities and exciting new avenues for research that arise from the convergence of various related, synergistic disciplines to bear onto brain sciences with a focus on the mechanisms of vulnerability, resilience, disease and recovery related to mental illnesses. The editors have done a superb job to assign a great cast to tackle this ambitious task. They have succeeded in a major way. This will be very interesting read to all in the mental health field that are curious about new possibilities and the potential revolutionary role of convergence sciences onto our field." - Jair C. Soares, MD, PhD, Professor and Chairman, Pat R. Rutherford Chair in Psychiatry, Louis A. Faillace, MD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Executive Director, UT Harris County Psychiatric Center, Director, UT Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, UTHealth School of Medicine
The global burden of mental illness * both in human suffering and economic loss-is rapidly growing yet inadequately addressed. It affects citizens of all countries, but is rarely discussed in an international context. This book is to be commended for encouraging intensive collaboration between seemingly discordant disciplines to generate novel solutions to this issue. The field of diplomacy certainly has much to contribute and has been undervalued in mental health to date. Mental health diplomacy aims to influence the global policy environment for mental health and bridges the disciplines of global mental health, international affairs, management, law, and economics. Enhanced support from the world's top economies, corporations, and leaders would greatly strengthen global mental health efforts by providing international leadership, collaboration, innovation, and funding." - Thomas Dougherty, U.S. Ambassador (ret.), Executive Director, Australian-American Fulbright Commission *
Just as the Medici Dynasty of the 14th century laid the foundations for the Italian Renaissance by converging the minds of artists, financiers, scientists, philosophers, and architects, so too do the authors of Convergence Mental Health lay the foundations for a mental health Renaissance by converging the minds of academics, technologists, scientists, practitioners, investors, and creators. This rich, multilayered text offers a tapestry of insights for those at every stage of the mental health innovation lifecycle - for those who discover, invent, build, adopt, employ, and scale. A deeply meaningful contribution to those willing to confront the last frontier in science - the mind, the brain, and the scalable maintenance of its extraordinary wiring." - Jessica Carson, Author of Wired This Way, Expert in Residence at Georgetown University
This is a very exciting book of the rising utilisation of mental health technology as a newly developing discipline. The authors propose a working model with insights being gained from other disciplines such as innovation diplomacy." - Professor Ian Paul Everall, Executive Dean, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London
The world needs evidence-based solutions that can help maximize opportunity and minimize injustice. This is particularly true for the field of mental health. The brain is the most complex object in human science and better understanding how it works remains key to critical improvements in fields ranging from criminal justice to education and public health. It will take cutting across silos, integrating knowledge from different fields, and implementing radical transparency to make the breakthroughs the world needs. Convergence Mental Health provides a roadmap for this new way of thinking, linking fresh ideas about research and funding with the potential for revolutionary outcomes." - John Arnold, Philanthropist, Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Arnold Ventures
Eyre and his colleagues have tackled a very important topic in this book. The integration of neuroscience, technological innovation, and human psychology is now joined as a priority with the need to provide greater numbers of psychiatrists, therapists, clinical doctors trained in recognizing (and making referrals related to) mental health needs, and facilities. This book is an invitation for all of us to see mental health improvements as a shared duty for many disciplines. Funders, practitioners, and patients will all see something to like and to learn from this book." - Maureen and Jim Hackett, Mental health advocates and philanthropists, Founders of the Hackett Mental Health Policy Center, Board members of major psychiatric associations and health science centers, and former CEO of several global companies
Convergence Mental Health is a crucial approach to ensuring the universal coverage of mental health services. In Rwanda, a country healing from deep emotional wounds left by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, mental health is included in the top health priorities of the country. One of the mechanisms used is a homegrown solution: an army of Community Health Workers trained to provide a comprehensive package of community health services, including sensitizing the community in the fight against stigma related to mental disorders and supporting families to detect and orient patients to the health care system for seeking mental healthcare. We have seen that a multidisciplinary approach to mental health involving important unconventional act...