Mental distress has become one of the key “public issues of the 21st century”. This edition of Politics of the Mind: Marxism and Mental Distress looks at the link between the economic and political system under which we live ― capitalism ― and the enormously high levels of mental distress that we see in the world today.

A new introductory chapter explores the impact on mental health of the “multiple crises” of the system including the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, discusses the significance of new research that challenges the biomedical model and assesses the implications for mental health and mental health services of political developments since the book was first published in 2017.