-
Asked by anon-216410 to Robert, Olly, Nicola, Jasmin, Dennis, Caroline on 12 Jun 2019.
-
Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 12 Jun 2019: last edited 12 Jun 2019 4:58 pm
I grew up in the Philippines (and lived in three more Asian countries) and there are a lot of things that are unheard of here in the UK in relation to mental disorders.
For instance, mali-mali (also known as latah, it’s sudden shock) is predominantly an Asian thing. Also when I lived in Singapore, people believe about koro (shrinking penis).
Bottom line – culture has a crucial role in mental disorders. They are known as culture-specific syndrome.
-
-
Robert Dempsey answered on 12 Jun 2019:
Yes – but how we define what a ‘mental disorder’ is is likely to be influenced by what is perceived to be normal or acceptable in our cultural groups. By the way, I don’t particularly like the use of the word ‘disorder’ in relation to mental health – has too many negative connotations and I think suggests that some of these mental health experiences aren’t ‘normal’ in any way.
-
Nicola Johnstone answered on 13 Jun 2019:
Not necessarily, there are cultural variations but mental health has no boundaries – it affects everyone. I’m actually at a conference for Human brain mapping in Rome right now and there is a lot of super interesting research looking at genetic basis of psychopathologies – it’s becoming clear that at the very basic level, many mental health disorders are linked.
-
Jasmin Moon answered on 13 Jun 2019:
I think different cultures perceive mental health problems in different ways, and obviously people live their lives in different ways in all over the world so environmental factors will definitely affect whether or not people experience mental health problems.
But in the same way that no human is immune from having problems with their physical health (i.e. anyone is capable of breaking their leg!), we are all susceptible to mental health problems too. -
Caroline Brett answered on 13 Jun 2019:
Yes, for lots of reasons.
First, the expectations of different cultures vary. For example, certain cultures put a lot of pressure on young people (and old!) to do well in education or jobs or earn a lot of money, which can cause people stress. Others do not.
Second, cultures differ in how easy it is to talk about difficulties – some people may not feel able to talk about not being able to cope, and therefore bottle it up, which can lead to difficulties down the line. They also differ in the amount of support they give people who are struggling.
Finally, some cultures are more family- or community-oriented than others, which can have an impact on the amount of support people feel they have – social support is important for people’s wellbeing. -
Oliver Clabburn answered on 14 Jun 2019:
This is a great question! I think that cultural variations may actually shape and guide mental health…for example, culture is what shapes the language we use. Therefore, when we talk about different symptoms or feelings regarding our mental health, we’re using the language that’s embedded in our culture. So, let’s take a culture where hypothetically, there was no word for anxiety or depression. Instead, how would associated symptoms get categorised and labelled?
Comments