Culture & Diagnosis/Key Question

Question 1

AO1

Answer 1

• Culture refers to a groups shared set of beliefs, norms, and values. Different cultures have different definitions of what is normal (social norms influence this) and this therefore impact on diagnosis of mental health/mental illness e.g. Are we treating the right illnesses? (is Dhat depression?) & Is our diagnosis valid?…could we have better treatment?
• Culture and social contexts, while not the only determinants, shape the mental health of minorities and alter the types of mental health services they use i.e. black british people are more likely to be hospitalised…so may be over diagnosed
• One way in which culture affects mental illness is through how patients describe (or present) their symptoms to their clinicians
• We live in a global world now- people move around- they need to ensure they’re getting the right care and we can diagnose and treat them correctly. Being diagnosed might offer them more help/support which they might need
• Important because could lead to an incorrect diagnosis (we need to make sure we’re treating people correctly)
• People could go undiagnosed
• We might be classifying things as illnesses which aren’t really

Question 2

AO2- 4Ds

Answer 2

Deviation from social norms- might impact what is seen as normal and abnormal and therefore who/what behaviours get diagnosed

Question 3

AO2- Ethnocentrism

Answer 3

Only researching or finding out about one culture BUT then applying them to other cultures (where they might not apply) ALSO undervaluing or downplaying differences between cultures

Question 4

AO2- DSM Vs ICD

Answer 4

USA Vs Worldwide -May have different criteria for the illness so depending where you are in the world you might be diagnosed differently

Question 5

AO2- Culturally bound illnesses

Answer 5

illnesses only found in one culture (or at least an illness which is interpreted totally differently in a different culture

Question 6

AO2- DSM V

Answer 6

now does include some common cultural differences in illness (we are now acknowledging the differences)

Question 7

AO2

Answer 7

Subjective interpretation

Question 8

AO2- Bias within cultures

Answer 8

i.e. afro-carribean people being over represented in the UK in mental health hospitals

Question 9

AO2- Differences between cultures

Answer 9

East Asian women in America may show different behaviours/traits (socially) than European American women which might impact on diagnosis

Question 10

AO3- Lee (2006)

Answer 10

which you’ve already described showed that the DSM was valid in another culture (Korea for ADHD).

Question 11

AO3- Lin (1996)

Answer 11

Schizophrenia around the world shares more symptoms than it differs in- it’s the same mostly (with availability of treatment being the major factor in many ‘differences’)

Question 12

AO3- Chandresa (1986)

Answer 12

shows that their are more rates of catatonia (21%) in Sri Lanka than in British white people (5%)- though this is mostly due to treatment options

Question 13

AO3- Burham (1987)

Answer 13

Mexican born Americans have more auditory hallucinations than American with Mexican origins

Question 14

AO3- Kastrup (2011)

Answer 14

argues that as not all cultures see the separation of mind and body prevalent in Western society if the patient and clinician do not share an understanding of how problems are described faulty diagnoses are likely to occur

Question 15

AO3- Escobar & Vega (2006)

Answer 15

The current version of DSM is still unsatisfactory in terms of cross cultural applicability because of its strong western bias

Question 16

AO3- Banyard (1996)

Answer 16

Not understanding culture 5% population is black but 25% of psychiatric patients

Question 17

AO3- Davidson (1994)

Answer 17

We need to be aware of cultural diversity. Asian-american women are more subservient/withdrawn…similar cultural difference occur in UK e.g. Afro carribean population

Question 18

AO3- Sato (2006)

Answer 18

Clinicians may be unwilling to give culturally sensitive diagnoses e.g. schizophrenia in Japan

Question 19

AO3- Lopez (1989)

Answer 19

claimed trying to redress cultural bias in DSM by taking cultural beliefs into account can lead to missing some diagnoses as symptoms are dismissed as cultural norms. This makes it very difficult to judge whether DSM can be used as a valid tool outside the USA

Question 20

AO3- Malgady (1987)

Answer 20

demonstrated there is a difference in the interpretation of hearing voiced between Costa Rican culture where it is interpreted as spirits talking to an individual and the USA where the same phenomenon is interpreted as a symptom of schizophrenia