Mental Health and Illness of Women

Book excerpt: This book discusses psychiatric disorders among women in a manner that is relevant to clinical practice and keep cultural and social realities in perspective. The book is important in the face of rapidly changing conditions globally (including better education and more opportunities for work for women); challenges such as migration, war and violence and emerging areas such as newer reproductive technologies, Women's mental health cannot be divorced from social and cultural realities and while the book emphasises these areas, it also gives due importance to the current advances in neurobiology and psychopharmacology of psychiatric disorders among women. Chapters in the book are written by multiple authors, many of the chapters use the life stage approach, and have been written by authors from different parts of the world to ensure cultural relevance and diverse viewpoints.