The epidemiology of mental diseases: Identifying priorities, search for causal links, intervention

The role of epidemiological analysis of mental diseases becomes increasingly important given the impact of psychiatric disorders upon the community, which is comparable in some ways to that of cardiovascular disease, cancer or accidental injury. The epidemiological approach should go beyond a serious description. The priorities for intervention should be identified (diseases, causal factors, populations at high risk), the etiology scrutinized …