Mental health has become a global issue. Throughout both the developed and developing worlds, the treatment and care of the mentally disordered, and the need to improve the mental health of all citizens, has become a major political and professional concern. This text sets out to monitor and analyse what supra-national and national policies have been and are being implemented, and to indicate what general themes and contradictions exist in the delivery of these policies. The implications from this review are then applied to professional practice - in particular that of the psychiatric disciplines (psychiatry and mental health nursing). A series of case studies from across the world is presented. Each is written by a pre-eminent scholar in the field of mental health policy within a selected country. The case studies have been chosen on the basis of their geographical location to ensure that there is a spread of exemplars from across the world and/or because of a unique approach to managing the mentally disordered.