Social Work and Mental Health

Social workers are the number one providers of mental health services in the United States. This book describes the realities of the contemporary American mental health system and the impacts on clients and social workers. It takes a critical perspective on the lack of quality care for those among society’s most vulnerable individuals, the mentally ill. Unlike other texts that address mental health and illness, the book focuses on the issues and policies that create challenges for social workers in the mental health system and obstacles to a continuum of excellent mental healthcare. The book also focuses on ways that social workers can help improve the overall functioning of the mental health system. One theme of the book is that mental health diagnosis, treatment, and access to care are lacking due to an insufficient knowledge base. That is, some mental disorders are not yet well understood, and therefore, responses can be inappropriate or inadequate. The critical perspective ensures that an examination of mental health treatments, especially pharmacologic therapy, does not focus exclusively upon the benefits to clients taking prescribed medications. The book digs deeper to ask who benefits when clients take psychotropic drugs. With a focus on social work innovation in mental healthcare, the book provides descriptions of promising policies and practices to improve mental healthcare in the United States. This includes new drug and brain stimulation or neuromodulation techniques and expanded social work prevention efforts. The book is recommended as a primary text for mental health courses in MSW programs. It can also be used in upper level undergraduate college courses in social work, typically BSW programs. The book finally ensures that social work students will not only understand the issues of their clients (micro level) but understand mental health issues in a broader societal context (macro level).