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2 - Culture and psychopathology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2009

By
Juan E. Mezzich ,
M. Angeles Ruiperez  and
Helena Villa
Edited by
Chee H. Ng ,
Keh-Ming Lin ,
Bruce S. Singh  and
Edmond Y. K. Chiu
Juan E. Mezzich
Affiliation:
International Center for Mental Health and Division of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, New York, USA
M. Angeles Ruiperez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain
Helena Villa
Affiliation:
Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain
Chee H. Ng
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Keh-Ming Lin
Affiliation:
National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan
Bruce S. Singh
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Edmond Y. K. Chiu
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
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Summary

Introduction

The traditional Western conceptualization of mental disorders as individual ex- periences that have little or nothing to do with social, cultural or ethnic components, together with the pre-eminence attained in the study of the human brain over the last decades of the twentieth century, have resulted in an increase in the number of biological or intrapsychic explanations put forward by contemporary psychopathology. In consequence, how sociocultural processes are involved in explaining and understanding psychopathological manifestations is not very clearly defined (Agbayani-Siewert, Takeuchi & Pangan, 1999; Fábrega, 1995).

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 López & Guarnaccia, 2005).

This interest in seeking to achieve the integration and interaction of biopsychosocial variables within the explanation of psychopathological behavior represented the beginning of a change of paradigm as regards the explanation of both normal and psychopathological human behavior (Mezzich, Lewis-Fernández & Ruipérez, 2003). This change in paradigm involves accepting the fact that psychic phenomena can be explained on a molecular and cellular level, involving tissues, organs, systems, the organism, the way information is processed, the physical surroundings or the sociocultural context (Cacioppo & Berntson, 1992, 2006; Mezzich et al., 2003; Westen, 2004).

Type
Chapter
Information
Ethno-psychopharmacology
Advances in Current Practice
 , pp. 5 - 26
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Culture and psychopathology
    • By Juan E. Mezzich, International Center for Mental Health and Division of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, New York, USA, M. Angeles Ruiperez, Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain, Helena Villa, Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain
  • Edited by Chee H. Ng, University of Melbourne, Keh-Ming Lin, Bruce S. Singh, University of Melbourne, Edmond Y. K. Chiu, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Ethno-psychopharmacology
  • Online publication: 22 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544149.003
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  • Culture and psychopathology
    • By Juan E. Mezzich, International Center for Mental Health and Division of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, New York, USA, M. Angeles Ruiperez, Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain, Helena Villa, Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain
  • Edited by Chee H. Ng, University of Melbourne, Keh-Ming Lin, Bruce S. Singh, University of Melbourne, Edmond Y. K. Chiu, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Ethno-psychopharmacology
  • Online publication: 22 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544149.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

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  • Culture and psychopathology
    • By Juan E. Mezzich, International Center for Mental Health and Division of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, New York, USA, M. Angeles Ruiperez, Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain, Helena Villa, Department of Psychobiology and Basic and Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I. Castelló, Spain
  • Edited by Chee H. Ng, University of Melbourne, Keh-Ming Lin, Bruce S. Singh, University of Melbourne, Edmond Y. K. Chiu, University of Melbourne
  • Book: Ethno-psychopharmacology
  • Online publication: 22 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511544149.003
Available formats
×