Introduction
Mental illnesses across cultures is an issue that has had many debates and research over the years. The reason for this is stemmed from the fact that people from various cultural background react differently from others. The conflicting reactions have led to the development of this research. A researcher wants to find the connection between the arguments in order to find the right answers. Culture cannot be stated to belong to one person. This fact is because it involves sharing of values, traditions and beliefs. According to WHO, there are millions of people across the world who have a mental illness (Dein, 2016). However, different cultures in the world have differing ways in which, they approach the disease. In some cultures, they believe that mental illness is caused by the curse of an evil spirit. This fact is the main reasons why people with mental illness are abandoned and isolated. This event can be observed from the third world countries such as Africa and Asian countries. There are also some cultures where they stigmatize people with mental disorders, and therefore, many go untreated because they are abandoned by individuals. The research question is how is mental illness across cultures?
Mental disorders
Some research shows that there are common mental disorders and disabilities across cultures. This study was conducted by the World Health Organization (Dein, 2016).
Depression and suicide
In many traditional societies, they take human distress problems as an indicator of significant life problems. They do not believe that it is a mental issue that needs to be dealt with especially by undergoing treatment. Due to this fact, many people in the society are not able to go for medical assistance and thus depression goes undiagnosed for life. Some linguistic communities do not have the word depression. Therefore, it is not in their vocabulary which means that they do not believe in its meaning especially of it being a psychological problem. To them, the symptoms of depression are just the typical physical complaints that people have in the society. There have been cases where Punjabi women from India have been baffled by the way they are treated after giving birth in the UK (Burton, 2012). The health workers in the hospital are claimed to ask the women if they were depressed. For them, the symptoms of depression were mere physical problems that can be solved. They did not understand why they were asked such questions because giving birth is a joyous occasion. These facts prove that depression in many developing countries is unheard off. Whenever people commit suicide, it is believed to be a spiritual thing. The people claim that evil spirit has possessed them to commit such a deed.
According to the African nations especially Nigeria, whenever a person commits suicide they are banished from the community (Abdullah et al., 2011, p.940). Therefore, the individual cannot be buried in that clan or land. The people will not be able to understand that they were depressed, and that is the reason for doing such an act. It can also be observed that in the developing nations, the rate of suicide is low. The reason can be stemmed from their cultural beliefs and values. In the UK and US, the rate of self-murder are high and so is the number of people with depression. Research shows that in the UK the form of suicide that is well known is by hanging.
Psychosis
In the developed countries, there are some particular reactive psychosis as well as possession trance that can be regarded to be mental illness. However, some societies hail such reactions. Most cases there are traumatic events that have occurred that causes the person to react in that manner. When in the trance, the person takes the identity of an animal, ghost or spirit, object, and another person. If a person is in this trance with an expression of religious feeling, then it will be embraced by some cultures. According to research, it has discovered that schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is brought on by biological factors which, is mostly affecting people who are living in the urban areas (Leach, 2013). In the research, it claimed that residents in the rural areas have small chances of getting the disorder. There are many reasons for this to occur. One of the main risk factors for mental illness is stress. Living in the urban areas are expensive and hard. This fact causes people to be depressed. The other reason is that the sufferers of mental illnesses tend to move to the urban areas from the countryside. They usually migrate because they are in search for a better future.
It has been observed that the traditional societies are more tolerant to mentally ill individuals (Dein, 2016). The reason for this is because people in these communities tend to come together and help one another. Therefore, a sufferer of mental illness will be able to get assistance from the people. However, in the modern societies, it will be hard for a person living with mental illness to survive because the only thing that people care about is themselves. This fact will cause people to discriminate against the mentally challenged people.
Western mental disorders
In many cultures, some disorders that are unheard off such as PTSD and eating disorders. There are some countries where eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia are being practiced primarily in the urban areas. Examples of this countries are Japan and South Korea. In this countries, they have firm beliefs about being thin. The women are considered beautiful when they are thin. However, the society is not aware that the eating disorders is seen as a mental disorder (Boyd, 2014).
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is caused by traumatic experiences such as rape, sexual assault, physical assault, car crash, war and natural disasters (WonPat-Borja, 2012, p.147). Some of the common symptoms are anxiety, nightmares, memory loss, numbing and flashbacks. It has been discovered that the disorder is being experienced differently in all cultures. An example can be observed from the natural disaster called tsunami that occurred in Japan. There is little evidence that has been recorded about people getting PTSD. This fact shows how different people are in handling stressful and depressing events in life.
Cultural perspective on mental illness
The attitude of individuals towards mental ill peoples vary from one culture to another. The people’s beliefs, especially about the origin and nature of mental illness, are usually influenced by individuals' culture and religion. Since culture and religion plays a significant role in people's beliefs, it is important for the medical practitioners to understand and use these beliefs to educate people about mental health (Maercker, 2013, p.1684).
Mental illnesses have been discovered to be associated with stress or childhood trauma that brings about the psychiatric symptoms. Some of the most common mental disorder across cultures are schizophrenia, PTSD, and depression. According to the research conducted by the collaboration of WHO, the study of the Determinants of Outcome of Severe Mental Disorders and the International Study of Schizophrenia, have discovered that Schizophrenia exists even to the diverse cultural and ethnic groups (Borchard et al., 2015). However, there is a difference in how they handle the problem. In most parts of the country where there is low income and middle-income the situation of mental health is not addressed in the right manner. This is because the people with the illness have low income or their families are unable to pay for their treatment. This fact causes the patients not to seek medical attention or continue with the treatment. Many homeless people roaming the streets of African nations can be found to be mentally ill.
Since the countries cannot be able to afford the treatments these people are left on the streets. It can also be observed that since many people are unable to provide the treatment, the mentally ill people are usually stigmatized or discriminated upon by the society. There have been many reports in the African nations where parents or family members have been caught locking up their mentally ill relatives. Apart from financial reasons, there are some causes that could push a person into doing this kind of inhuman behaviors. First and for most the people do not want people to talk ill about their families. Many people have religious and cultural beliefs that make them believe that if a member of a family has a mentally sick person, then they are using djinnis to get more wealth. This fact can be observed from the Coastal people of Mombasa, Kenya (Burton, 2012). This fact means that the people believe that if a person is wealthy and a family member is seen to be mentally ill, then they are connected to using witchcraft to get more money. Due to this kind of negative comments, many have feared to be related to any mentally ill person. It can be observed that mental illness has always being viewed in a cultural and religious perspective.
Discrimination, Stigmatization, and mental health
In the world, different cultures approach mental health in various ways. When it comes to mental illness stigma is defined as the disfavoring, devaluing and disgracing done by the public people towards those who are suffering from mental illnesses. When stigma occurs, it brings about the discrimination of individuals with mental illness. The public refuses to offer services or resources such as housing, food or job to the sufferers and their families. Many disadvantages occur when mentally ill people are denied services. An example is that it causes them to refuse to go for treatment, finding employment, living happily with others in the society and following treatment recommendations. According to research conducted by WHO in 2001, it was able to observe that one of the biggest challenges for people suffering from mental illness across cultures is stigmatization and discrimination (JILEK, 2001). This fact caused the organization to start formulating plans in which, mentally ill people will be able to get access to medical coverage.
The other thing is for people to be educated about mental illnesses and how they can help people suffering from it. Over the years WHO has been able to recognize the different cultures in the world that has problems with people with mental illness. One of them is the Indians. According to the Indian culture, they have firm beliefs that when a person becomes mentally ill, then that person has been cursed by an evil spirit. In the past, the Indian culture described the mentally ill individuals as witches or devils (Borchard et al., 2015). They progressed and began stating that the mental illness was deviant behaviors. This fact caused all sufferers to either be sent asylums or prison. In the modern world, there are still people who associate mental illness to evil spirits. However, there has been some progress in which, there is development of psychiatry in the community. This change makes it easy for people with mental illness to seek medical treatment or psychological help.
In African nations such as Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somali, they have firm beliefs that a supernatural agent is the one that possesses a person thereby causing them to become mad (WonPat-Borja, 2012, p.149). When it comes to the concept of possession to them, it means that some particular demands need to be fulfilled in accordance to what the spirit wants. Therefore, the community believes that if the family fails to do so, then there will be consequences for everyone in the household. According to the Moroccan community, they claim that mental illness can be caught just in the same manner as how a person catches a cold out on the street. The people believe that a person might step on sorcery or eat or drink it accidentally. This fact will cause them to lose their minds and become crazy.
When it comes to the Arabic culture, they stigmatize anyone who has a mental illness. Any sufferer of mental illness has no right to seek advice from any professional and most especially family members (Dein, 2016). All Arab nations have a strong hold with their faith and religion. Therefore, religion plays a significant role in their beliefs and ideologies. According to the Arab culture, social reputation is the most important thing in the community; therefore, the way families behave will indicate how they uphold the social norms and values. People try their best not to bring shame to themselves or their families. Families will, therefore, do their best to support and protect anyone who is perceived to be mentally ill. However, if a person brings shame to the family due to their mental illness, then they face being shunned by people and also lose support from the clan members. For the family, they do not understand that some certain actions committed by a mad person are not their fault. They believe that their family honor is the most important thing that should be protected at all cost.
Many people attribute mental illnesses to being possessed by djinnis and demons. For many cultures, they believe that witchcraft, sorcerer or a devil's eye has caused the mental illness. Therefore, they have linked mental illness to higher spirits. This fact means that God might be communicating to them via the person. According to all these factors, the society might discriminate against the family of the mentally ill person just in the same manner that they would to the mentally sick person (Heine, 2015). When this occurs, there are many unfortunate impact that could happen to the family. For instance, they could lose their jobs, miss an opportunity to get married or plan to start a family. Due to all these facts, many opt to lock up their family members at home or the mental institutions.
When it comes to the western culture, mental illness has been associated with criminals. Some of the most dangerous criminal’s especially serial killers have been declared mentally insane. Some of those criminals are David Berkowitz diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who killed six people from 1976-1977. The other was David Gonzalez, who was diagnosed with Paranoid schizophrenia, had killed four people in 2009. The fact that mentally ill people are stated to have criminal traits causes people to discriminate against them. This fact makes it hard for the patients to go for treatment. In America the number of homeless people is high. However, when looking at the number of the mentally ill individuals the numbers are big. The reasons are stemmed from the fact that people are discriminating against them, and thus, they are unable to receive medical treatment since they are abandoned and also because no one wants to hire a crazy person who could turn violent.
According to research that was conducted, it was discovered that the Afghanistan people believe that mentally ill individuals are possessed by a djini (Borchard et al., 2015). This belief is similar to the Kenyan people especially those living in Mombasa. The Afghanistan culture does not believe in the concept of psychological problems. People claim that a person is either healthy or crazy. Therefore, people suffering from mental illnesses are not taken to mental institutions. However, they are cared for by their family members. Psychological distress of the people is explained in ways such as headaches, stomachache aches or back aches. However, if a person claims that they are having mental problems they risk being stigmatized by the public.
According to the Vietnamese culture, they have firm belief that if a person has a mental illness, then it is Karma (Boyd, 2014). The reason is that they have sinned and that it is why God is punishing them. The Buddhist community can also be observed to have this kind of belief. They claim that a person misdeed could cause them to have mental problems. On the other hand, the Chinese community argues that mental illness is as a result of being possessed by an evil spirit or demon. In looking at all these beliefs, one can be able to understand why family members of a mentally ill patient fear seeking medical attention for them. They do not want to be isolated or abandoned by their friends and neighbors.
When it comes to the Japanese community, they state that mental illness is a form an undesirable weakness (Dein, 2016). This weakness brings about shame to the person and the family. Due to this fact, many people fear to go to mental hospitals because they are afraid that the society will stigmatize them. In looking at all Asian countries, it can be observed that when it comes to mental illness, they all have their varying views of how it was caused or progressed. However, there is one thing that is common which, is the society condemns all people with mental disorders. This act causes family members or caregivers to hide the sufferers away from the eyes of the public.
In the modern western world, many people can be seen to have accepted that some people are mentally ill (Dein, 2016). Therefore, many programs have been formulated to educate the public about mental health. This education has made the public aware of the different types of mental health illness and disorders. In the past people used to suffer in private especially if they have the symptoms of depression. This disease goes unnoticed and untreated and therefore, it brings about significant problems. Some of the depression has progressed to the point where they become paranoid schizophrenic. These individuals may end up committing crimes or shutting down where they commit suicide. However, in the modern world, there are many facilities and medications that people can use to curb their mental illness symptoms. Many families in America, who have sufferers of mental illness, do not discriminate against them. However, there are some cases where family members leave their loved ones at the mental institutions. This is because they do not want the responsibility of caring for the mentally ill.
There are some phrases that people use when talking about the psychiatrists or psychologists such as shrink (JILEK, 2001). This phrase causes discomfort to people who are going to seek mental help. The phrase can associate a person with being mad. An example can be seen from the numerous children or adolescents that have been called crazy or mad by their peers in schools because they go to the shrinks for psychological help. Therefore, the stigmatization of the people causes the mentally ill individuals not to want to be treated.
In conclusion, mental illness is viewed differently by all cultures in the world. Most of the non-western cultures associate mental illness within the spiritual and religious framework. Therefore, this mental problem will bring shame to the family and the sufferer. According to the research conducted by WHO, Asian and African countries believe that a person has been possessed by an evil spirit and that is why they are insane. The fact that mental illness is associated with evil spirits causes people to fear mad people and therefore isolate themselves from them. Therefore, discrimination and stigmatization are highly practiced by individuals. Hence, many people are afraid to seek treatment. It is important or the medical practitioner to learn more about people’s culture in order for them to be able to convince and treat the mentally insane individuals.
Reference
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