Geopsychiatry and social psychiatry

Abstract

Abstract Geopsychiatry focuses on the influence of geopolitical factors, such as globalization, foreign policy, collective violence and regional conflict, climate change, natural and man-made public health crises, and transnational migration, on mental health and mental illness. Despite their impact on all aspects of our lives, the importance of geopolitical factors to health has been under-recognized, including within social psychiatry. The COVID-19 pandemic has made evident the pressing need to consider the geopolitical determinants of mental health, in the context of shifting geopolitical challenges. We argue that geopolitical factors are key drivers of population mental health, including through their influence on the traditional social determinants, which may be considered downstream of geopolitical factors. Therefore, geopolitical determinants need to be more clearly addressed in research and policy in mental health. Social psychiatry, a discipline concerned with the relation between social determinants and mental health, should attend more clearly to the geopolitical context within which social determinants are experienced.