Abstract
Mental health informatics (MHI) is a relatively new specialty within the field of biomedical informatics. MHI seeks to develop, enhance, and apply informatics theories, paradigms, and technologies to optimize the mental health of individuals and communities. In this chapter we define the scope of the field and discuss its relationship not only to the larger field of biomedical and health informatics, but also to work occurring natively within the field of mental health. We introduce the three primary fields of science within which our basic scientific knowledge of mental health and illness is produced: the biological sciences, the behavioral sciences, and the social sciences. We describe the opportunities and challenges inherent in developing and using informatics technologies in a field in which knowledge is acquired in the context of three different fields in two different branches of science, each with its own unique epistemology, or way of knowing. We describe some of the unique features of the behavioral and social sciences that call for novel informatics paradigms and that highlight the need for significant enhancements in existing informatics technologies.
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