Preface - Arthur Kleinman I

I thank the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for giving me the opportunity to orga- nize this issue of Dædalus entirely around the subject of mental health, and the au- thors themselves for their important contributions. [...] And where tough questions also beg to be asked about the biomedical-research, institutional, and policy orientations and commercial con- siderations that have come to dominate the field and constrain the responses of clinicians and health agencies. [...] The contributors’ engagement with mental health illustrates the profound suf- fering and the search for healing and relief confronting so many in our own soci- ety and in countries poor and rich across the globe. [...] I trust that the wisdom and experience of the contributors will inspire, inform, and validate the efforts of so many who are working to find ways to relieve mental ill health and suffering in the most diverse of social and economic contexts. [...] about the author Arthur Kleinman, a Fellow of the American Academy since 1992, is the Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, and Professor of Medical Anthropology in Global Health and Social Medicine and Professor of Psy- chiatry at Harvard Medical School.