Culture and mental illness

Abstract

AbstractCultures are an integral part of a person’s life and influence an individual’s social and cognitive development. They can thus contribute to the onset, perpetuation, and outcomes of many psychiatric illnesses. These have a major role in defining abnormal behaviours and deviance, but cultures can also heavily influence pathways to care by influencing explanatory models and resources. In addition, culture moulds an individual’s worldview. Cultures are incipient, with institutions of education, employment, and training having their own microcultures. Individuals learn to navigate these multiple cultural and microidentities in order to achieve their aims. The relationship between the culture and prevalence of various psychiatric disorders is quite complex. Hence, it is important to recognize that cultures have relativist characteristics rather than universalist, although some features may be common in designing, developing, and delivering services. The role of culture in mental illness is described in this chapter.