Cultural psychiatry considers the broader implications of race, ethnicity, religion, and cultural background in the study and treatment of mental illness. It uses research from social and behavioral scientists, anthropologists, and mental health practitioners to provide culturally relevant care and increase the effectiveness of clinical services. The concept of culture is integrated into psychiatry, and cultural psychiatrists gather information about a patient’s background to better understand their mental state. Cultural psychiatry distinguishes between disease and illness and recognizes that culture is a dynamic concept influenced by various factors.
Cultural psychiatry is the study and treatment of mental illness in individuals and which also considers broader implications of race, ethnicity, religion and cultural background. This approach to contextual psychiatry has grown significantly as modern societies have become more diverse. Cultural psychiatry is an expansive discipline that uses the research of social and behavioral scientists, medical and cultural anthropologists, and mental health practitioners from around the world to determine the best course of clinical treatment for individual patients. For example, when treating an individual for depression, a cultural psychiatrist might consider factors such as the psychological consequences of discrimination, migration and acculturation stress, aspects of indigenous spirituality and religion, or belief in traditional or folk healing practices. At its core, cultural psychiatry seeks to increase the effectiveness of clinical services – diagnosis, care and treatment – for people from diverse backgrounds.
People who practice cultural psychiatry focus on the importance of cultural influences in mental health in an effort to provide culturally relevant care. The concept of culture is not so much linked to the discipline of psychiatry as integrated into it. For example, there is often great variation in how people from different cultures who feel mentally ill express their discomfort, both verbally and conceptually. Thus, for a cultural psychiatrist to better understand a patient’s mental state, it is often necessary for the clinician to gather information about the patient’s family background and her sociocultural background. Along with race, ethnicity, and religion, relevant information might include personal and family aspirations, perceived identifying characteristics of socioeconomic class, and your experience and history of immigration or emigration.
The effects of acculturative stress are a focus of cultural psychiatry, but are generally not addressed in mainstream psychiatry. Acculturation occurs when a culture, or an individual within that culture, is modified or changed as a result of contact with or absorption by another culture. The increase in the migration of individuals and groups globally is one of the reasons behind the growth of intercultural approaches to mental illness. Cultural psychiatry not only takes into account the limitations of traditional categories of mental illness, but also embraces culturally indigenous categories of mental illness. The intercultural psychiatrist distinguishes between disease, which is the malfunctioning of biological or psychological processes, and disease, which is the personal and cultural reaction to disease.
In cultural psychiatry, culture – often defined as the beliefs, values and practices of a specific ethno-cultural group – is not seen as static. Culture, as it applies to an individual, is a dynamic, ever-changing concept that is influenced not only by acculturation but by issues of poverty, social class, and gender, among others. Furthermore, just because an individual is a member of a distinct culture does not necessarily mean that he or she adheres to all the beliefs, customs, or rituals of the group at large. In cultural psychiatry, a patient is viewed as both an individual and a social being within a cultural context.
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