Mental illness is a leading cause of disability and mortality around the globe. Even in wealthy countries, only about half of people with mental illness receive adequate care. In low and middle income nations, almost all go untreated by trained mental health professionals, yet many other healing resources can be activated in low-resource countries, creating opportunities for people with mental illness to be helped and indeed to thrive. This health policy forum engages the enormous challenges and opportunities of global mental health with speakers Vikram Patel, PhD, co-founder, NGO Sangath and the Centre for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Angela Garcia, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University.