ROGER GOMM was previously Lecturer in Health and Social Welfare at the Open University, UK. Tom Heller is Senior Lecturer in Health Studies at the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University, UK. Rosemary Muston is Course Manager in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University, UK.

• PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL DISTRESS: DEBATES AND THEORIESIntroductionPsychological Approaches to Mental Health and Distress; R. DallosA Psychiatric Perspective on Mental Distress; R.E. Kendall'Schizophrenia' Re-evaluated; M. BoyleLife Events Loss and Depressive Disorders; G. BrowneTransition and Loss; C. MurrayParkes Women and Madness; P. CheslerThe Cultural Context of Mental Distress; R. WarnerLabelling Mental Illness; T. ScheffOn Being Sane in Insane Places; D.L. RosenhanReversing Deviance; R. GommSome Problematic Aspects of Dementia; T. KitwoodThe Families' Experience; D. JonesPART TWO: MENTAL HEALTH POLICY, SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND CIVIL RIGHTSIntroduction Mental Health and Inequality; R. GommGeorge III and Changing Views of Madness; L. JonesProfessionals, the State and the Development of Mental Health Policy; J. BusfieldBeyond the Asylum; J. LeffScare in the Community: Britain in Moral Panic; M. MuijenMedia Images of Mental Distress; G. Philo, J. Secker, S. Platt, L. Henderson, G. McLaughlin and J. BurnsideTowards Understanding Suicide; S. Taylor and A. GilmourTwo Notions of Risk in Mental Health Debates; D. Pilgrim and A. RogersThe History of Tranquilliser Use; J. GabeThe Black Experience of Mental Health Law; D. BrowneThe Need to Change Mental Health Law; N. EastmanPART THREE: INVOLVING USERS IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICESIntroductionThe History of the User Movement in the UK; P. CampbellThe Lives of 'Users' P. Barham and R. HaywardStructuring Effective User Involvement; G. MazaMental Health Services that Empower Women; J. Williams and G. WatsonAsian Women Speak Out; S. Fenton and A. SadiqFocusing on Health: Focus Groups for Consulting About Health Needs; M. Tang and C. CunninghameWhat Users Want from Crisis Services; L. Sayce, Y. Christie, M. Slade and A. CobbPART FOUR: EXAMINING PRACTICEIntroductionUsing Research to Change Practice; G. ParryReviewing Advances in Psychiatry; R. Ramsay and T. FahyNormalising Professional Skills; D. BrandonDeveloping a Bridge to Women's Social Action; S. HollandWorking Psychotherapeutically with Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse; F. GardnerTreating Anorexia Nervosa; J. RussellRehabilitating Voice-Hearers; M. RommeCommunicating as if Your Life Depended on It; J. KillickPractising Cultural Psychiatry; S. AcharyyaMaintaining an Emergency Service; P. TyrerWorking with Refugees and Survivors of Torture; J. Shackman and J. ReynoldsDoing Being Human; T. Heller.