The Economics of Mental Health

Health economics is a topic of increasing interest to practising doctors, as the realisation grows that our practice is affected both positively and negatively by economic conditions. As recent economic changes will no doubt affect this even more, we are increasingly obliged to have at least some knowledge of the economic effects of the conditions we treat, and the relationship between economic change and these conditions. The website of the (London) Institute of Psychiatry's Centre For The Economics of Mental Health is a good place to look around and get some idea of how interventions and treatments are evaluated from an economic point of view.