Public mental health. II: The psychological dimension

Alienation, which is the source of much violence, is widespread throughout the world, deriving from and connected with adverse social and economic conditions. It is a state of estrangement from society often associated with bitterness and resentment; these exacerbate conflict and lead to war and other types of violence. Alienation is the antithesis of compassion and other feelings on which the good society is based. It is partially maintained by a web of psychological falsehoods, knots, relating to: awareness, happiness, identity, permanence, separateness, guilt and inferiority, and violence. These knots foster confused thinking that makes us more vulnerable to alienation. Unravelling the knots and cutting through the web of psychological falsehoods helps to release the human potential for positive, peaceful and non-violent action. Medicine can best contribute to weakening wide-spread alienation through the development of public mental health, working at the interface with the social, economic and cultural actors in the development of civil society.