Public health context of women's mental health research

This article considers mental illness in women from a public health perspective. Epidemiology and clinical research are viewed from the perspective of their implications for designing interventions and services. This article argues that mental disorders in US women are a major public health problem because of their scope, course, and functional impact. Programs to identify affected women and provide interventions in real-world settings could have a significant impact on the health status of women and their families. It is important to measure the benefits and costs of these strategies along with the costs of illness. Such knowledge is essential to health policy makers and managers in allocating behavioral health care resources.