ABSTRACT
Dramatic events are transforming the global mental health landscape. In developing regions, where four fifths of the world's population reside, noncommunicable diseases are supplanting traditional diseases as leading causes of disability and premature death. Rapid urbanization warrants examining the complex interrelationships between the experience of living in increasingly dense cities and the status of their residents' mental health and well-being. Global climate change is a reality, and will increasingly contribute to mental illnesses in human populations. The chapter looks at the relationship between landscape, architecture, mental health and addictive disorders. Adverse outcomes in physical settings that need to be addressed in evidence-based research on this subject should be grounded in a broader definition of physical violence itself – patient-to-patient, patient-to-caregiver, and sometimes staff-to-patient acts of aggression. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
