The word 'mental' often brings many stray feelings whenever it enters the thought process. The word has often been associated with mental illness and the mental hospitals, or a serious mental illness like schizophrenia. On the contrary, the World Health Organization (WHO), when it came into being, very clearly defined health as not just absence of illness, but a state of physical, mental and social well-being. Mental health is one aspect of health which we often neglect. We, though, may also ignore physical health and indulge in unhealthy habits, mental health gets much lower priority. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has brought a focus on mental health with the recognition of the stress and mental health issues faced by most of the population including those who were infected, their family members and health care professionals, effects of lockdown, quarantine and social distancing. This book is an attempt to familiarize the general population, the community, family members of those with mental illness, social scientists and the health professionals about the basic principles of mental health. It covers mental health issues across different populations, introduces to early signs of mental illness, rights of persons with mental illness and many other issues.

About the Editors: Rakesh K Chadda is Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry & Chief, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

Pratap Sharan is Professor, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

Mamta Sood is Professor, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

Koushik Sinha Deb is Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.