Janaka Jayawickrama is Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of History, and Director at the Research Centre for Health and Wellbeing at Shanghai University, China. Trained in India, the USA, and UK. he has conducted research and educational activities in many crisis-affected regions in Asia, Africa, and West Asia (Middle East). Janaka is mostly known for his work on concepts of care, health, and wellbeing related to disasters, conflicts, and uneven development. His work on wellbeing, inclusivity, and the need for harmonious relationship with nature has appeared in many anthologies.Jerome Wright is Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK. Over the last two decades Jerome has led a number of research and community health projects in Africa and South Asia, examining the integration of mental health care into primary care and non-communicable disease programmes, and working to develop participative approaches to such initiatives. He continues to collaborate with researchers and international NGOs on mental health and wellbeing initiatives across Africa, the Middle-East and South Asia.

• Chapter One: Introduction.- Chapter Two: Stress and Distress as Global Health Concerns.- Chapter Three: Coloniality of the Biomedical Model.- Chapter Four: Behind the ‘Global Mental Health’ Gaze.- Chapter Five: ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ Coloniality in the UK.- Chapter Six: Beyond Colonial Approaches.- Chapter Seven: Conclusion.

“The book … offers a powerful critique of Euro-North American epistemology and biomedical universalism, which continue to shape global mental health policies and practices. … The volume, based on Jayawickrama and Wright’s experiences in both Global North and Global South contexts – including Malawi, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom – unfolds as a journey through layered critiques and lived experiences … which frame the lens through which the reader is invited to engage.” (Delia Da Mosto and Luca Negrogno, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, February 2, 2026)"The authors' clear‐eyed and salient analysis of the imposition of the Western model in Malawi and Sri Lanka (and the imperial boomerang effect in the United Kingdom) as a mode of coloniality makes this book an important contribution to twenty‐first‐century critiques of mental health and colonialism. Their work is useful to researchers, practitioners and students who seek to understand the coloniality of the Global North's approach to mental health and want to start combatting it." (Tom Short, Sociology of Health & Illness, October 3, 2025)

Janaka Jayawickrama is Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of History, and Director at the Research Centre for Health and Wellbeing at Shanghai University, China. Trained in India, the USA, and UK. he has conducted research and educational activities in many crisis-affected regions in Asia, Africa, and West Asia (Middle East). Janaka is mostly known for his work on concepts of care, health, and wellbeing related to disasters, conflicts, and uneven development. His work on wellbeing, inclusivity, and the need for harmonious relationship with nature has appeared in many anthologies.Jerome Wright is Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK. Over the last two decades Jerome has led a number of research and community health projects in Africa and South Asia, examining the integration of mental health care into primary care and non-communicable disease programmes, and working to develop participative approaches to such initiatives. He continues to collaborate with researchers and international NGOs on mental health and wellbeing initiatives across Africa, the Middle-East and South Asia.

• Chapter One: Introduction.- Chapter Two: Stress and Distress as Global Health Concerns.- Chapter Three: Coloniality of the Biomedical Model.- Chapter Four: Behind the ‘Global Mental Health’ Gaze.- Chapter Five: ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ Coloniality in the UK.- Chapter Six: Beyond Colonial Approaches.- Chapter Seven: Conclusion.

“The book … offers a powerful critique of Euro-North American epistemology and biomedical universalism, which continue to shape global mental health policies and practices. … The volume, based on Jayawickrama and Wright’s experiences in both Global North and Global South contexts – including Malawi, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom – unfolds as a journey through layered critiques and lived experiences … which frame the lens through which the reader is invited to engage.” (Delia Da Mosto and Luca Negrogno, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, February 2, 2026)"The authors' clear‐eyed and salient analysis of the imposition of the Western model in Malawi and Sri Lanka (and the imperial boomerang effect in the United Kingdom) as a mode of coloniality makes this book an important contribution to twenty‐first‐century critiques of mental health and colonialism. Their work is useful to researchers, practitioners and students who seek to understand the coloniality of the Global North's approach to mental health and want to start combatting it." (Tom Short, Sociology of Health & Illness, October 3, 2025)

Janaka Jayawickrama is Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of History, and Director at the Research Centre for Health and Wellbeing at Shanghai University, China. Trained in India, the USA, and UK. he has conducted research and educational activities in many crisis-affected regions in Asia, Africa, and West Asia (Middle East). Janaka is mostly known for his work on concepts of care, health, and wellbeing related to disasters, conflicts, and uneven development. His work on wellbeing, inclusivity, and the need for harmonious relationship with nature has appeared in many anthologies.Jerome Wright is Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK. Over the last two decades Jerome has led a number of research and community health projects in Africa and South Asia, examining the integration of mental health care into primary care and non-communicable disease programmes, and working to develop participative approaches to such initiatives. He continues to collaborate with researchers and international NGOs on mental health and wellbeing initiatives across Africa, the Middle-East and South Asia.

• Chapter One: Introduction.- Chapter Two: Stress and Distress as Global Health Concerns.- Chapter Three: Coloniality of the Biomedical Model.- Chapter Four: Behind the ‘Global Mental Health’ Gaze.- Chapter Five: ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ Coloniality in the UK.- Chapter Six: Beyond Colonial Approaches.- Chapter Seven: Conclusion.

“The book … offers a powerful critique of Euro-North American epistemology and biomedical universalism, which continue to shape global mental health policies and practices. … The volume, based on Jayawickrama and Wright’s experiences in both Global North and Global South contexts – including Malawi, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom – unfolds as a journey through layered critiques and lived experiences … which frame the lens through which the reader is invited to engage.” (Delia Da Mosto and Luca Negrogno, Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, February 2, 2026)"The authors' clear‐eyed and salient analysis of the imposition of the Western model in Malawi and Sri Lanka (and the imperial boomerang effect in the United Kingdom) as a mode of coloniality makes this book an important contribution to twenty‐first‐century critiques of mental health and colonialism. Their work is useful to researchers, practitioners and students who seek to understand the coloniality of the Global North's approach to mental health and want to start combatting it." (Tom Short, Sociology of Health & Illness, October 3, 2025)