Space, Place and Mental Health

Space, Place and Mental Health
Author: Sarah Curtis
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2010
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780754673316

How and why does the social and physical environment matter for mental health and psychological wellbeing in human populations?In this book, this question is examined from a number of different points of view, but with a particular emphasis on ideas and research from health geography. It shows that health geography makes a distinctive focus on the interactions between people and their social and physical environment, and in the ways that it conceptualises space and place.

Space, Place and Mental Health

Space, Place and Mental Health
Author: Sarah Curtis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2016-04-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 131705184X

There is a strong case today for a specific focus on mental public health and its relation to social and physical environments. From a public health perspective, we now appreciate the enormous significance of mental distress and illness as causes of disability and impairment. Stress and anxiety, and other mental illnesses are linked to risks in the environment. This book questions how and why the social and physical environment matters for mental health and psychological wellbeing in human populations. While putting forward a number of different points of view, there is a particular emphasis on ideas and research from health geography, which conceptualises space and place in ways that provide a distinctive focus on the interactions between people and their social and physical environment. The book begins with an overview of a rich body of theory and research from sociology, psychology, social epidemiology, social psychiatry and neuroscience, considering arguments concerning 'mind-body dualism', and presenting a conceptual framework for studying how attributes of 'space' and 'place' are associated with human mental wellbeing. It goes on to look in detail at how our mental health is associated with material, or physical, aspects of our environment (such as 'natural' and built landscapes), with social environments (involving social relationships in communities), and with symbolic and imagined spaces (representing the personal, cultural and spiritual meanings of places). These relationships are shown to be complex, with potential to be beneficial or hazardous for mental health. The final chapters of the book consider spaces of care and the implications of space and place for public mental health policy, offering a broader view of how mental health might be improved at the population level. With boxed case studies of specific research ideas and methods, chapter summaries and suggestions for introductory reading, this book offers a comprehensive introduction which will be valuable for students of health geography, public health, sociology and anthropology of health and illness. It also provides an interdisciplinary review of the literature, by the author and by other writers, to frame a discussion of issues that challenge more advanced researchers in these fields.

Healing Spaces

Healing Spaces
Author: Esther M. Sternberg MD
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2010-09-30
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0674256832

“Esther Sternberg is a rare writer—a physician who healed herself...With her scientific expertise and crystal clear prose, she illuminates how intimately the brain and the immune system talk to each other, and how we can use place and space, sunlight and music, to reboot our brains and move from illness to health.”—Gail Sheehy, author of Passages Does the world make you sick? If the distractions and distortions around you, the jarring colors and sounds, could shake up the healing chemistry of your mind, might your surroundings also have the power to heal you? This is the question Esther Sternberg explores in Healing Spaces, a look at the marvelously rich nexus of mind and body, perception and place. Sternberg immerses us in the discoveries that have revealed a complicated working relationship between the senses, the emotions, and the immune system. First among these is the story of the researcher who, in the 1980s, found that hospital patients with a view of nature healed faster than those without. How could a pleasant view speed healing? The author pursues this question through a series of places and situations that explore the neurobiology of the senses. The book shows how a Disney theme park or a Frank Gehry concert hall, a labyrinth or a garden can trigger or reduce stress, induce anxiety or instill peace. If our senses can lead us to a “place of healing,” it is no surprise that our place in nature is of critical importance in Sternberg’s account. The health of the environment is closely linked to personal health. The discoveries this book describes point to possibilities for designing hospitals, communities, and neighborhoods that promote healing and health for all.

The Handbook of Mental Health and Space

The Handbook of Mental Health and Space
Author: Laura McGrath
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Community health services
ISBN: 9781138643932

This timely book brings together the psychosocial work on experiences of space and mental distress, making explicit the links between theoretical work and clinical and community practice.

Mental Health and Social Space

Mental Health and Social Space
Author: Hester Parr
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2011-07-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1444399691

Through a series of case studies this book brings to the fore the voices, lives, and capacities of people with mental health problems as well as the difficulties they face. It effectively demonstrates the ways people with mental health problems are active in re-scripting versions of social recovery through their use of very different community spaces. Offers a 'hopeful epistemology' not typically found in mental health-related research Interrogates neo-liberal dogma that defines people with mental health problems as active social citizens wholly responsible for their own recoveries and acceptance Brings to the fore the voices of, lives, capacities and difficulties facing people with mental health problems Imaginatively differentiates rural, urban, interest and technological communities, disrupting familiar and conventional accounts of social inclusion and 'the local' Demonstrates how people with mental health problems are active in re-scripting their own social recoveries through their use and understanding of different social spaces

Making Space at the Well

Making Space at the Well
Author: Jessica Brown
Publisher:
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2020
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780817018115

"When it comes to ministry related to mental health concerns, prayer and Scripture are not enough. Beginning with the biblical motif of going to the village well for the waters that sustain life and exploring the communal significance of that well, pastor, professor, and clinical psychologist Jessica Young Brown calls on the Black Church to rally its historic resilience and creativity to acknowledge and engage those in its pews who are struggling with mental health concerns. Using the acronym of SPACE, the author discusses: Silencing the Stigma ... naming the negative attitudes and mistaken assumptions about mental illness, especially in the African American community Presence & Persistence ... identifying the importance of authentic relationships in healing mind and spirit Application & Action ... highlighting practical steps to address the needs as they emerge Cautions ... being real about the fears and risks related to mental health crises, including the importance of referrals Expression & Exhortation ... calling on the cultural power of testimony to encourage the entire congregation to access the healing power of God Rev. Dr. Young Brown concludes with a practical exploration of "Now What? Digging the Well and Drawing from It." The book's appendix features a brief primer on common mental disorders that frequently affect members of our family, neighborhood, and church"--

Space, Place and Dramatherapy

Space, Place and Dramatherapy
Author: Eliza Sweeney
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2023-08-11
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1000925331

Space, Place and Dramatherapy: International Perspectives provides radical, critical and practical insights into the relevance and significance of space and place in dramatherapy practice. Bringing together an international breadth of contributors, the chapters of this book reveal extensive reflections on the many spaces in which dramatherapists and their clients work and offer research implications for those wishing to critically examine their own symbolic or structural spaces in dramatherapy practice. Chapters consider space and place from many angles: ritual and symbolic spaces; transitional and play spaces; educational and interpersonal spaces; and scenographic and architectural spaces. The book examines the impact of space on human (and more-than-human) relationships, dramatherapy practice and processes and mental health, offering new avenues of research and critical enquiry. This volume is the first of its kind to rigorously elucidate the importance of space within the field of dramatherapy and is essential reading for academics, scholars and postgraduate students of dramatherapy as well as practicing dramatherapists and professionals within the wider domains of arts and health.

The Handbook of Mental Health and Space

The Handbook of Mental Health and Space
Author: Laura McGrath
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2018-09-19
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317216598

The Handbook of Mental Health and Space brings together the psychosocial work on experiences of space and mental distress, making explicit the links between theoretical work and clinical and community practice. The change from an institutional to community care model of mental health services can be seen as a fundamental spatial change in the lives of service users, and the book aims to to stimulate discussion about mental healthcare spaces and their design.With contributions from those involved in theorizing space, those drawing on their own experiences of distress and space, as well as practitioners working on the ground,the book will be of interest to mental health practitioners and academics.

Space, Place, and Environmental Ethics

Space, Place, and Environmental Ethics
Author: Andrew Light
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1997
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

The inaugural collection in an exciting new exchange between philosophers and geographers, this volume provides interdisciplinary approaches to the environment as space, place, and idea. Never before have philosophers and geographers approached each other's subjects in such a strong spirit of mutual understanding. The result is a concrete exploration of the human-nature relationship that embraces strong normative approaches to environmental problems. While grounded in philosophy and geography, the essays also will interest readers in political theory, environmental studies, public policy, and other disciplines.