Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action launches at SOAS
The Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (CAMHRA) has officially launched at SOAS. Through a series of workshops, panels and discussions, the Centre set out its aims in advancing research and practice in anthropology and mental health.
CAMHRA is the first discipline-specific anthropology and mental health centre in the world. Created thanks to a Research England grant worth nearly £8 million, the Centre will use an anthropological approach to tackle some of the most difficult issues related to mental health care and inequality.
The centre was launched through a full-day programme of salons, bringing professionals from each discipline together on the key topics of “Community, Determinant, Culture, Insight and Evidence”. Participants broke down each theme by its definition, examining its underlying assumptions, everyday usage and what, if anything, is excluded in each.
Given the discipline’s attention to social and institutional relationships, culturally-shaped experience, and its immersive research method, anthropology is equipped to describe complex and rapidly-changing situations, voiced through stories.
The day ended with an inaugural lecture from Dr Brighu Singh, Senior Lecture in Anthropology. Drawing on a decade of ethnographic work in India, Dr Singh wove together the five core themes from the day’s discussions, examining how mental health practice and anthropology can be used in tandem to alleviate suffering.
Speaking about the launch, Centre Director Professor David Mosse, one of the UK’s leading anthropologists, said: “There are many reasons why anthropology is finding a place at all levels of mental healthcare. Given the discipline’s attention to social and institutional relationships, culturally-shaped experience, and its immersive research method, it is equipped to describe complex and rapidly-changing situations, voiced through stories."
About CAMHRA
The Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (CAMHRA) is a globally oriented and locally connected hub for cutting-edge anthropological research, education and public engagement on mental health.
As societies grapple to respond to the scale and complexity of mental health needs, CAMHRA contributes distinctly anthropological perspectives to a growing global a growing global view of how societies can understand mental distress and build effective systems of care.
