The existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the Chinese tend to deny depression or express it somatically. However, Western influences on Chinese society and on the detection and identification of depression are likely to have modified the expression of depressive illness quite sharply since the early 1980s. Analyzing these changes may provide useful insight into the evolution of the diagnosis of depression in Western and other cultures.
Possession-trance is a common culture-bound syndrome in Singapore. The characteristic features as seen in 36 young men of the three different ethnic communities are described. At follow-up four to five years later, none of the 26 who could be contacted showed any evidence of mental illness. The psychopathology of the possession-trance is discussed.
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