Overview: foundations of cultural psychiatry

Abstract

The authors demonstrate the significance of adding the cultural dimension to basic psychiatric concepts. They point out the areas in which the work of anthropology and social psychology are relevant to psychiatry, including understanding mental health and illness, child-rearing practices and their effects on personality, cognition, family and social networks, sex roles and behavior, alcohol use, communication, and therapy. They also present some of the major conceptual foundations of cultural psychiatry, which include ethnography, emic and etic approaches, the cross-cultural approach, and the study of subjective culture.

Thematic analysis of the raters’ experiences administering scales to assess depression and suicide in Arab schizophrenia patients

“…However, there is evidence that people with mental health conditions can reliably and validly report their experiences [ 28 , 29 ]. Culture can influence the various aspects of psychiatric illness like the presentation, behavior, assessment, severity of symptoms, and management [ 30 , 31 ]. A recent study addressed the assessment bias of psychotic experiences in various countries.…”

Thematic Analysis of the Raters’ Experiences Administering Scales to Assess Depression and Suicide in Arab Schizophrenia Patients

“…However, there is evidence that people with mental health conditions can reliably and validly report their experiences [28,29]. Culture can in uence the various aspects of psychiatric illness like the presentation, behavior, assessment, severity of symptoms, and management [30,31]. A culture is a group of behavioral norms and values utilized by a particular community to construct their speci c and unique perceptions of the world.…”