Sorting the Culture-Bound Syndromes

Simons, Ronald C.

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-5251-5_2

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Certainly, TKS has been conceptualized as spanning a wide range of severity and insight, ranging from social concerns of adolescence, to SAD, through to obsessions and delusions (Kasahara, 1988 ;Kleinknecht et al, 1997 ;Takahashi, 1989). The inclusion criterion here that patients initially received SRI treatment may well have biased the sample towards the middle of this range, and towards increased comorbid depression, although previous writings have also described psychosis in only a small sub-group of TKS patients (Simons, 1985). An alternative emphasis is to note that DSM-IV recognizes a subtype of ' poor insight ' in some anxiety disorders (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…This term, initially coined by Yap (1951Yap ( , 1962 has been defined in different ways, but often refers to conditions that are unique to a particular cultural context. Although it can be argued that all psychiatric disorders are culture-bound insofar as they are experienced and expressed within specific sociocultural contexts, it does seem that certain symptom patterns are seen primarily within particular contexts (Simons, 1985).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taijin kyofusho: a form of social anxiety disorder that responds to serotonin reuptake inhibitors?

Matsunaga

Kiriike

Matsui

et al. 2001

Int. J. Neuropsychopharm.

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Taijin kyofusho (TKS) has been categorized as a ' culture-bound ' illness that is unique to the East, although an alternative view holds that some TKS patients are best conceptualized as having a form of social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, pharmacotherapeutic interventions for TKS have not yet been rigorously investigated. A review was undertaken of 48 TKS patients initially treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) in an outpatient setting of a Japanese hospital. Psychiatric diagnoses were determined according to DSM-IV, and a set of TKS diagnostic criteria based on a modification of DSM-IV SAD criteria. In addition, response to SRIs (clomipramine and fluvoxamine) was evaluated retrospectively using the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale. All 48 patients met SAD-based TKS diagnostic criteria. In the pretreatment assessment, DSM-IV Axis I diagnoses included SAD (38 %), major depressive episode (27 %), and delusional disorder somatic type (15 %). Sixteen (48 %) of 33 patients treated with clomipramine or fluvoxamine for at least 6 months were categorized as responders (CGI l 1 or 2). Compared to responders, non-responders were significantly less likely to have pretreatment major depression, and significantly more likely to have comorbid cluster A personality disorders and to have received augmentation with antipsychotic drugs. Although TKS may be a heterogeneous condition with various comorbidities, patients invariably fulfilled diagnostic criteria for TKS based on SAD criteria. SRIs may be effective for a substantial number of TKS patients. Prospective controlled trials are necessary to confirm these findings and to delineate the pharmacotherapeutic profile of TKS.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taijin kyofusho: a form of social anxiety disorder that responds to serotonin reuptake inhibitors?

Matsunaga

Kiriike

Matsui

et al. 2001

Int. J. Neuropsychopharm.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…An early success of this perspective was debunking the myth of culture‐bound syndromes: illnesses thought to be unique to particular populations and regularly assumed to be psychological in nature (Hahn 1995; Simmons 1985). A prime example of this achievement is the discovery that susto – a commonly cited Mexican culture‐bound syndrome – correlated with identifiable symptom clusters and high levels of stress (Rubel 1964; Rubel, O’Nell & Collado‐Ardon 1984).…”

Section: A History Of the Ethnomedical Approach In Medical Anthropologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The interface between medical anthropology and medical ethnobiology

Waldstein

Adams

2006

Royal Anthropological Inst

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Medical anthropology is concerned with both the causes and consequences of human sickness, and its various theoretical orientations can be grouped into four major approaches: medical ecology, critical medical anthropology, interpretative medical anthropology, and ethnomedicine. While medical anthropologists of all theoretical persuasions have examined why people get sick, the analysis and understanding of patterns of treatment has been largely confined to ethnomedicine. Historically, more emphasis has been placed on the personalistic or supernatural aspects of ethnomedical systems than on naturalistic or empirical components. While this focus has produced valuable insights into the role of ritual and belief in healing, it has led to the impression that traditional medicine is primarily symbolic. Moreover, it ignores the theoretical bases of traditional healing strategies and the practical means by which most of the world heals itself, namely plants. Recently there has been more interest in the empirical character of ethnomedical systems, and in this paper we consider the role that medical ethnobiology has played in this shift of focus. We begin with a brief history of medical anthropology to illuminate why naturalistic medicine was neglected for so long. We then review exemplary research in two areas of medical ethnobiology -ethnophysiology and medical ethnobotany -that address the study of naturalistic aspects of medical systems. We conclude with suggestions for future research at the interface between medical ethnobiology and medical anthropology that will contribute to both fields.Medical anthropology is the study of the causes and consequences of sickness 1 in human beings, and its diverse theoretical orientations can be grouped into four major approaches: the medical ecology/biocultural approach, the political economy/critical medical anthropology approach, the interpretative or postmodern approach, and the ethnomedical approach. Medical ecology encompasses the contributions of biological anthropology to the understanding of human disease. An ecological perspective is employed to analyse the interaction of populations, pathogens, and environments at the core of disease processes (Armelagos, Leatherman, Ryan & Sibley : ; McElroy & Townsend : ). In contrast, critical medical anthropology is concerned primarily with political and economic factors in health and disease (Baer : ; Singer, Valentín, Baer & Jian : -), while interpretative medical anthropology focuses on metaphorical conceptions of the body and shows the social, political, and individual

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“…A nosologic classification is neither scientifically nor clinically satisfactory, as the diagnosis-determining manifestations of most culture-bound syndromes overlap, and the indigenous disease terms are semantically overlaid with traditional meanings and interpretations of folk medicine that significantly influence both the illness behavior of the affected person and the reactions of others. It thus seems somewhat artificial when Simons (1985a) sorts the culture-bound syndromes into "taxa," for which he postulates the same or similar neurophysiologically based behavior patterns; for most of these syndromes, no neurophysiological basis can be demonstrated. Pfeiffer's method (1980Pfeiffer's method ( , 1994 of considering culture-specific stress zones, behavioral forms, and coping styles, while taking into account the interpretations of folk medicine, seems to be of greater heuristic value and clinical utility.…”

Section: Attempts At Nosological Classificationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The term introduced by Yap was at the focus of the debate in the 1980s and 1990s between "cultural relativists" and "universalists" in transcultural psychiatry, and this influenced the manner in which it was interpreted. The interpretation of Simons (1985a) may serve as an example of a universalistic interpretation. He considers culture-bound syndromes to be indigenously defined folk illnesses that are strongly influenced by the social and cultural realities of the society in which they occur, although this in no way implies that biological factors are irrelevant to the formation of these syndromes.…”

Section: Development Of the Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%