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Cultural Differences In Mental Health Research

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Recommended: Compare two cultures approaches to mental illness

The DSM (IV-TR) identifies depressive symptoms as having a depressed mood most of the day, diminished interest or pleasure in all or most activities, significant unintentional weight loss or gain, insomnia or sleeping too much, agitation or psychomotor retardation noticed by others, fatigue or loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, recurrent thoughts of death or suicide (Carson. R et al, 2008). The DSM- IV (1994) also states that, culture can influence depressive symptoms e.g. in many Asian countries, depression is often manifested through complaints of weakness, tiredness or imbalance, rather than feelings of guilt, difficulty concentrating etc. This then …show more content…

Studies have also found that South Asians seem to not improve with treatment as much as other Asian groups (Ying and Hu, 1994). The reasons for this difference are many; it has been found that minorities in treatment may often not have access to mental health services, and/or they may receive a poorer quality of treatment. Minorities are also underrepresented in mental health research, which would lead to lack of knowledge of culture specific disorders, or culture specific symptoms of disorders, making it difficult to diagnose their disorders (U.S public health services, 2001). Cultural beliefs regarding how to deal with components of mental illness may be contrary to what professional helpers may require people to do. This may cause suspicion and confusion and may further dissuade people from seeking professional help, preferring to keep to their traditional practices. E.g. African Americans are encouraged to rely on themselves and their will power rather than seek help from outside sources (Browman, 1996). Native Americans believe that sickness is the result of disharmony with oneself, community and nature, and thus mental health services would not be of much use, since they rarely focus on these aspects of one’s life (Tolman and Reedy, 1998). Besides influencing our perception of mental illness, culture also influences whether or not people seek treatment, and who they decide to seek treatment from. Who people will go to for treatment, will depend on what the cause of mental illness is perceived as, e.g. if the cause for the disorder is seen as being due to God’s wrath or evil spirits, people may be inclined to go to religious heads for treatment. Asian American mainly look to their extended family and folk healers for help during difficult times, and so professionals will probably not be visited.

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After reading Dr. Galanti 's articles about culturally competent healthcare please answer the following questions: What did you gain from reading Dr. Galanti 's article? Dr. Galanti provides insight into the relationship between cultural diversity and heath care providers. Dr. Galanti’s briefly states the difference between “stereotype and generalization”. The author recognizes that generalization may be a key factor used by workers in the health care community to bring awareness and a better understanding of cultural differences among patients. The article explains that although cultures differ in values, traditions, and beliefs, there are questions (the 4’C’s of culture) that may open up the line of communication, between provider and

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The Japanese had a very stigmatized view on depression, and people would usually only get help if their case was severe. This shifted after countries began selling anti-depressants in Japan, however. In the United States, many people are dealing with depression, and many seek treatment for the disorder, regardless of the severity. When the U.S. ran advertisements to destigmatize the illness in Japan, they fractured the cultural beliefs that Japan previously held.

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There are many different cultures in the world and how they approach medical needs may not all be the same. As a Vietnamese American I know both ways how American people and Vietnamese people approach for healthcare. Most American when we are sick we go to the doctors and they diagnose us with whatever and give us a prescription for medication or would refer us out to a specialist that would be able to help us. While Asians or better yet Vietnamese when we get sick we sometimes do not just go to the doctors we try herbal medications at home on our own and on what knowledge we know and from our friends and families. Also we believe in that acupuncture can help us from a lot of different things it can help with trembling, aches and such.

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The mental health rate among Hmong has been found to be high compare to other Western population. The major cause of mental health diagnosis is linked to traumatic war related events that they had experienced back in their homeland and acculturation changes in the United

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In a study by Sarah Garcia-Siberman (1998:1-12), mental health issues can be seen at any age from the very young to the elderly, those with a higher level of education are less likely to develop cultural-bound syndromes. They are more likely to seek out the assistant of mental health providers (psychotherapy) and take medication (pharmacological treatment) if needed. This makes since to me, when someone is educated and are able to cope with the stresses of everyday life, the person is better equip to deal with whatever changes occur, making mental health issues less likely in this population. The older population and those that have little to no education, view these syndromes as evil, spiritual possession, or witchcraft, which can only be cured through herbal remedies, religious or shaman healers, and ritual ceremonies (Piñeros 1998:1425). If a culture is isolated and has no contact with civilization, I can see why they would not be able to seek professional help.

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My initial impression of psychology and mental health was negative. Growing up in Mercedes, Texas, a suburban city in the Rio Grande Valley, I grew up around traditional Mexican American culture, including our beliefs and values. These values instill the importance of family, respect, and being a hard worker to provide for and follow their family's expectations. Often this hard-working and cultural expectation mentality results in many Hispanics overlooking their mental health and dismissing signs of mental health decline, viewing signs of mental health problems as indications of "weakness" or being "crazy." As a result, many Hispanics suppress negative feelings or use other harmful methods, such as drugs and alcohol, to cope with their mental

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And if all the previous hiccups were not of enough influence, adding shame and social unacceptance may just entirely put depression treatment at a halt. IV. Mental illnesses can be belittled or simply overlooked in most societies but when additional factors such as the ones mentioned above are present, the effects are culturally significant. Even though Education regarding mental health is increasing among Hispanic population, the vast unawareness is still a health concern in our society. V. Online Journal Articles Alegría, M., Mulvaney-Day, N., Torres, M., Polo, A., Cao, Z., & Canino, G. (2007).

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Mental health is one of the most important problems that Asian Americans encounter. Asian Americans were discovered to be the least likely ethnic group to use mental health services, according to a survey by the National Latino and Asian American Study. Additionally, the research discovered that Asian Americans experience depression and anxiety at higher rates than the general population. The stigma associated with mental illness in Asian cultures prevents many Asian Americans from getting treatment. Because of the widespread misconception that Asian Americans are to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans have been the target of prejudice and discrimination.

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Mental Health is a tough topic to talk about but for the African American Community; the concept of mental illness or overall mental health is swept up under the rug. The African American community is not informed and misunderstands mental health and illnesses, but why? In other communities of people mental health and all of its aspects are accepted but for my community of people it's something that is not openly discussed and looked down upon. According to mentalhealth.gov, “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

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Despite the progress in understanding the causes of mental illness and the tremendous advances in finding effective mental health treatments, far less is known about the mental health of minorities. Race, ethnicity, culture, language, geographic region, and other social factors affect the perception, availability, utilization, and, potentially, the outcomes of mental health services. Across racial and ethnic groups, a significant financial barrier also greatly affects mental health and the path to getting needed mental health care. Every society influences mental health treatment by how it organizes, delivers, and pays for mental health services. Therefore the provision of high quality, culturally and language appropriate mental health services, in locations accessible to racial and ethnic minorities, is essential to creating a more equitable

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Culture has a major impact on the identification and treatment of psychological disorders because it effects how its members view them. A culture is a set of beliefs shared between a group of people; this can be a community, an entire nation, or simply a religion. With this set of beliefs comes a set of behavioral expectations, also known as cultural norms; describing how the people of the culture are expected to act to be considered a normal person. The people that do not align with these cultural norms are often labeled as being abnormal, which is a common experience for those who have a psychological disorder. Those who have been labeled as being abnormal often receive backlash from the resulting fear or misunderstandings that occur due

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Mental Illness Dipti Vora The abnormal behavior, thoughts, or feelings of the person is considered to be a mental illness. They do not have any biological test to diagnose abnormality inhumans, abnormality can only be diagnosed by the professionals. The mental health experts view mental disorder as collection of problems in thinking, in emotional responding and in social behavior. Before diagnosing the abnormality psychologist consider in many factors, one of them is cultural norms because it is normal in Japan to talk to their loved one’s soul after their death, they also feed the soul, while in christianity that consider to be abnormal. The culture and gender can influence the way people express their symptoms or feelings.

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Many people do not seek out help for mental health concerns because of the lack of awareness. I plan to work in low income communities with a focus in migrant individuals. Our cultural values can sometimes prevent us to reach out to mental health professionals. I intend to create an impact in communities to break the social stigma of mental health.

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“Culture is, in part, a symbolic organisation of behaviour in which the meaning of that behaviour is expressed in interpersonal processes stemming from cultural traditions.” This is Opler’s definition of culture shows that it is a vital part of every individual’s life and that the meaning of behaviour can change from one culture to another. This aspect is very important to clinical diagnosis because the culture can play a part in the interpretation of behaviour and this has its relevance to diagnosis and treatment. Culture-bound syndromes are then determined with respect to the episode in a particular culture which could be locally defined since it is indigenous to that culture. There have been questions raised about the reason why the disorders

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Most of cultural beliefs remain largely erroneous. In an economically disadvantage country such as Kenya psychiatrist in training will still hold such beliefs as mental illnesses are caused by supernatural causes even after medical training. The main problem of such beliefs is that they promote stigma, discrimination and isolation of people with mental illnesses which

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