JAMA Psychiatry (the second-largest journal in the field of psychiatry, IF=15.92) published an online article entitled “Implications of the Association of Social Exclusion With Mental Health” on October 9, 2019. This special column “Viewpoint” was written by Prof. Zhao Xudong from Tongji University School of Medicine, together with Prof. Andreas Heinz and Dr. Liu Shuyan from Charité – Berlin University of Medicine as a cooperative result of the newly established Sino German Institute of Mental Health, Tongji University School of Medicine.

The author selected the most representative literature, including the results and conclusions of large-scale epidemiological studies, clinical studies, longitudinal cross-cultural studies, experimental studies, and systematic reviews, and discussed the relationship between the group barrier formed by culture, race, class and other factors and mental health and mental disorders.

In this study, the researchers discussed the mental health status of ethnic groups in the fast-changing society from the perspective of social and cultural changes, citing the results of the research “Prevalence and prognosis of schizophrenia in Jinuo people in China: A prospective 30-year follow-up study” initiated by Professor Wenpeng Wan in 1979 and conducted by three generations of Chinese scholars for more than 30 years. Also, from the perspective of urbanization, the researchers analyzed the interaction and circular causality relationship between wealth disparity, low social status, immigrant adaptation and mental health indicators at a macroscopic social level. This paper also interprets the interaction of individual psychological health and psychological factors in the aspect of individual subjective well-being, sense of gain and expectation value (expectation for failures). Finally, from the perspective of public health (international community-nation-community medicine), comprehensive measures to improve mental health was proposed, which included not only the adjustment of national macro policies, the development of regional economy and community construction but also the individualized intervention of psychiatrists and psychotherapy professionals.

Under the background of promoting “Healthy China” initiative, the viewpoint of this paper casts some new light on laying out development strategies that focus on the overall well-being of the people, eliminating poverty and unbalanced growth, and offering people stronger sense of gain, happiness, and fairness in the modernization of our country. It also inspires the professionals to put more effort into studying the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors in the mental health and mental hygiene work in the future.

JAMA Psychiatry is a sub-journal of JAMA, one of the four largest medical journals in the world. It started publication in 1959 and formerly named  Archives of General Psychiatry. In 2013, it was officially renamed  JAMA Psychiatry . It is an international peer-reviewed journal with 12 issues published annually. In 2019, the impact factor of JAMA Psychiatry magazine was 15.916, ranking the second in the field of psychiatry.