Cultural issues in diagnosis

Question 1

Language differences

Answer 1

words in some cultures are non-existent in others
may be issues in translation if patient and psychiatrist speak a different language

Question 2

social norms

Answer 2

not all cultures recognise and define the same illnesses
as cultural norms change, so might acceptance of different mental health illnesses

Question 3

western cultures

Answer 3

tend to see the mind and body as different aspects of a person, but this is not true in other cultures.
some cultures have mental disorders specific to that culture

Question 4

stigma/shame

Answer 4

not all cultures have social norms that accept mental health illnesses

Question 5

culturally specific illness examples

Answer 5

ghost sickness (native america) - thought to be cause by the spirit of a deceased person attaching themselves to a living person. symptoms: loss of appetite, depression, nightmares, nausea
hikikomori (japanese youths) meand ‘withdrawal’. withdraws from everyone and lock himself in home for months, doing almost nothing other than thinking. most vitims at least 25, 80% male.