When I hear the term public health, I think of diseases, prevention of sickness, and health of the public. And that’s the trend that we saw while reading The Ghost Map. But apparently it is not only physical health that must be factored in to this field. It is deeper than that. Public health is not only about physical health, but it is also about mental health. As we see in the book, there are plenty of examples of root shock, but it never occurred to me until this book that public health also encompasses the mental health and the mental well-being of the public.
My only question now is, how do public health officials accommodate for mental health issues?
Your observation is indeed right: mental health is certainly pivotal in maintaining a healthy community. The only way for public health officials to “accomodate for mental health issues,” is by making environments that would best alleviate the tension/stress. The only way to do this is by making an environment that will calm people down. This could mean building more parks, recreational centers such as YMCA, etc. If people had access to all this, then they would have an outlet through which to release their tensions, and public health would be increasing.