Culture and psychopathology

Viewing the relationship between culture and psychopathology within an evolutionary framework, Hammer and Zubin (1966) also suggest some possible culturally adaptive functions of schizophrenia. They point out that the characteristics of the mentally ill occur in most people, and symptoms such as anxiety, guilt, shame, and depression are often harnessed to socially useful purposes. Similarly, Bowers and Freedman (1966) and Ludwig (1966) emphasize the healing function of schizophrenic states and consider them a major avenue of new knowledge and creative experience. 

Hammer, M., and Zubin, J. Culture and Psychopathology. Unpublished manuscript. Columbia University, 1966. 

Tseng, W., Overview Culture and Psychopathology, Culture and Psychopathology A Guide to Clinical Assessment, 1997, Brunner/Mazel, Inc. Vogel, H. Similarities Between Various Systems of Traditional Medicine Considerations for the Future of Ethnopharmacology, J. Ethnopharm., 1991, 35. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition, 1994, Ed. M. First, 1993, APA Press. 

Nevertheless, parallel to this, there has also been a growing and renewed interest in understanding the role played by culture in mental disorders in order to allow cultural aspects to be included in the conceptualization of psychopathologies, in the light of the results obtained by a large number of research studies (for a review, see Lopez Guarnaccia, 2005). 

From the above, it becomes clear that simplistic interpretations of the results of the studies into psychopathology and culture in the literature mustbe avoided, while at the same time efforts must also be made to develop a more refined methodology that involves a careful analysis of the factors that condition such a relationship (Collazos etal, 2005). 

The role played by culture in the expression of symptoms, as well as in the greater acceptance of certain forms of psychopathological expression, is especially well illustrated in the studies conducted on depression among the Hut-terites, on neurasthenia in China and on nervous breakdowns in the Puerto Rican population. 

Furthermore, the predictive model drawn up by Agbayani-Siewert etal. (1999) requires these measures to be culturally appropriate and relevant because current epidemiological research uses western concepts to explain the ways psychopathological manifestations are expressed, help-seeking behaviors, the use of services and the application of treatments, and they are unable to represent the experiences of some groups. 

The DSM was produced by the American Psychiatric Association primarily as a manual for American clinicians and has been largely guided by research on the U.S. population. As a result, the document reflects an American version of psychopathology that may not accurately describe psychopathology found in other cultures. Cross-cultural epidemiological studies suggest that certain disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, dissociative identity disturbance) exist mainly in industrialized countries and are rarely seen in... 

Roman Kotov studied physics at the Moscow State University. He received a double BS in physics and psychology from Ohio State University in 2000. He is currently a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Iowa. Mr. Kotov s research interests include taxometrics, individual differences in psychopathology, and cross-cultural studies. He has authored or coauthored several articles evaluating the taxonicity of constructs related to anxiety. 

An identity state, like a d-SoC, has coping functions. The culture a person is born into actively inhibits some of his human potentials, as well as developing some. Thus, even in the most smoothly functioning cultures, there is bound to be some disharmony, some conflict between a person s emerging and potential self and the demands placed on him to which he must conform in one way or another if he is to survive in that social environment. The psychopathology of everyday life is abundantly obvious and has been amply documented by psychological studies. 

Weisz, J. R., McCarty, C. A., Eastman, K. L Chaiyasit, W. (1997). Developmental psychopathology and culture Ten lessons from Thailand. In S. S. Luthar J. A. Burak (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology Perspectives on adjustment, risk and disorder (pp. 568-592). New York, NY Cambridge University Press. 

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