Problem Statement
The need to live in a healthy environment is the desire of everyone. A healthy environment exists where health professionals engage in the analysis of various factors that contribute to health problems, and adopting remedies to solve them in their various contexts. This needs appreciation of the cultural diversity among the human population, and recognition of its impact on the diagnosis and treatment of various health issues such as mental illnesses (Covan, 2010). The ethnic background of individuals reinforces their culture and assigns them different gender roles. These are crucial in analyzing health problems in order to advise on the best treatment. These factors may influence the nature of expression of a disease and may lead to misdiagnosis of a mental illness leading to inappropriate treatment of the disease. The diagnostic criterion for mental illnesses such as depression is informed by western culture, which focuses on the individual symptoms such as individual knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that shape the expression of mental illness (Covan, 2010). However, they fail to recognize the influence that external power dimensions such as gender, ethnicity, age, class, religion, and their intersections have on individual symptoms. This leads to the misdiagnosis of diseases because humanity is a fusion of many cultures with unique practices that affect individual symptoms.
Hypothesis and results of the study
The lack of other diagnosis criteria made the author believe that all mental illnesses focus on the individual symptoms as the main diagnosis criteria for mental illnesses such as depression. Throughout history, diagnosis of mental illnesses was dominated by the European-American model that emphasized a diagnostic scale that focused on individual symptoms (Covan, 2010). However, diagnosis of individuals from different ethnic groups showed that men and women had varying symptoms that served as criteria for diagnosing depression. This affirmed that individual symptoms are influenced by other factors such as gender and ethnicity that vary across different cultures, and this leads to different diagnoses.
Objective of the research
The aim of the study was to explore the contributions of various authors on the different symptoms and expressions of depression among men and women from various ethnic groups, and the meaning of gender for expressions of depression. The problem of mental illness is as old as humanity and many societies devised ways of diagnosing and treating it. This research article is a critique of several research articles contributed by various authors that relate to mental issues faced by women from different ethnic backgrounds (Covan, 2010).
In their work, the authors encountered women and men from different ethnic groups with varying symptoms that indicated depression. However, their expression differed from the individual symptom criteria. This increased knowledge on about the expression of depression with a focus on gender and ethnicity. Even though depression is a health issue that faces humanity, diagnostic scales have their origin in the western world, which may lead to misdiagnosis of depressive symptoms in several ethnic minorities (Covan, 2010). The core symptoms of depression such as depressed moods and lose of interest may be influenced by a culture, which shapes the symptoms and expressions, and determines where people seek help. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire more insight into how depressive symptoms may vary between different ethnic groups (Covan, 2010).
Moreover, research has unearthed the differences in symptoms of depression in men and women. This was caused by the intersection between gender and ethnicity where culture assigned roles for each gender (Covan, 2010). The western world model of depression focuses on the symptoms of an individual. This model believes it is individual knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and meaning of illness that shape the expression of mental illness. However, they do not consider issues such as gender, ethnicity, class, age religion, and their intersections that shape the individual (Covan, 2010).
Research Methods
Literature Review
The literature review on the health issues of depression explains the impact of gender and ethnicity on the expression of depression. It is a qualitative analysis on the expression of depression about women and men from different ethnic backgrounds as contributed by various scholars. The review argues that it is difficult to diagnose various people of depression because its symptoms differ among various ethnic backgrounds. Depression was a syndrome diagnosed according to the (DSM American Psychiatric Association) and ICD-10 (World health Organization) criteria that were all western based (Covan, 2010). This diagnosis was based on western points of view and had cultural and gender gaps, which influenced the diagnosis of depression.
Culture shapes the symptoms and expressions of depression and determines how and where people seek help. This may lead to misdiagnosis of depressive symptoms in several ethnic minorities as diagnostic scales are influenced by western culture. This culture was distinct from the other cultures of the world (Covan, 2010). Moreover, there are differences related to how the symptoms of depression are presented between men and women. This was influenced by the intersection between gender and ethnicity where ethnic and gendered power relations influenced expression of depression symptoms. The western model of diagnosing depression focused on the individual and disregarded the external power dimensions of gender, ethnicity, class, age, religion, and their intersections in determining the expression of depression (Covan, 2010).
Relevance of Research
In my opinion, this article is current and relevant to the mental issues that face society especially depression. It exposes the shortcomings of the preexisting diagnosis criteria for mental illnesses such as depression. The generalization of humanity by the European-American models is not sufficient to explain the expression of depression because they ignore the impact of the social environment on the personality of an individual. Moreover, this is reinforced by the high rate of development and technological advancement in modern society that seen a rise in mental health issues in society.
Method of Research
The above research exposes the seldom connection between society and health issues that face people in different cultures. Throughout humanity, society has engaged in various efforts to solve health issues among its population. Research requires the analysis of past and current scholarly contributions in order to advise the best practices to solve health issues (Covan, 2010). The authors utilized non-experimental research that involves a qualitative analysis of the various publications by different scholars on the expression of depression among men and women from different ethnic backgrounds. This analysis used thirty original studies and articles with a focus on symptoms and expression of depression, and focused on abstracts concerning depression rates, other psychiatric and chronic symptoms, explanations or pharmaceutical treatments, or articles in which depression was mentioned as a secondary illness (Covan, 2010).
In one of the articles: “This Is Not a Well Place”: Neighborhood and Stress in Pigtown, the authors explore the experiences of stress in the lives of ten mothers and grandmothers living in a low income, predominantly white, urban neighborhood (Covan, 2010).
The women encountered a combination of stressors related to their daily lives, their neighborhood, and community culture and institutions.
However, the sample size is not sufficient because it may not give the perception of the women towards their neighborhood or the extent of relations between the rich and the poor in the neighborhood. Therefore, it is difficult to analyze the impact of income differences on the stress level among women in the neighborhood. The choice of the neighborhood exposes the strong relationship that exists between stress and mental illnesses such as depression. The sample size considers age in its analysis by including mothers and grandmothers in the study. As a result, it encompasses the purpose of the study that sought to explain the expression of depression in women. The number in the sample size is not sufficient because it may yields varied opinions about the source of stress for women in the neighborhood.
The research gives an insight on how the government can improve public health policy and a program because it identifies a social problem among women, understands mechanisms related to neighborhood stress and health, and outline epidemiologic variables of interest. Personally, I would suggest a public health program such as guidance and counseling that seeks to counsel the mothers and grandmothers from this neighborhood. This will ease the stress they encounter in their daily lives due to low incomes and negative cultural relations in the rich neighborhood.
Moreover, the research was limited to low income mothers and grandmothers. High income mothers and grandmothers from the neighborhood should be included because of varying levels of stress among this group of women. This would be useful in reinforcing the link between stress and mental illnesses such as depression. In my opinion, the writings of the research are not clear and straightforward because it gives a general conclusion on the impact that income, culture, and gender have on stress levels, which cause mental illnesses such as depression. The authors fail to recognize the direct contributions of gender and ethnicity in expression of depression such as stress.
Today, many nations represent a fusion of different cultures owing to increased immigration of people to different regions of the world. In my opinion, further research can be conducted on this subject. This would include the impact of gender and ethnicity on the expression of depression on an immigrant population.
The prominence of health issues in modern society has prompted scholars to formulate many ways of solving them. The ability to diagnose and solve health problems relies on a good understanding of a health issue. Many health problems pose a challenge to health professionals because of the cultural diversity in the human population. This may lead to misdiagnosis of a health issues because culture influences the manner in which mental problems such as depression are diagnosed and treated because it assigns roles to both men and women in society. The western diagnostic scales are masculine in nature and disregard the impact of cultural traditions and practices of people especially women. As a result, it is imperative that the continuous use of the individual symptoms as a criterion for mental illnesses such as depression should include cultural considerations for a complete diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Reference
Covan, E.K. (2010). Research about Mental health Issues. Healthcare for Women international.
Vol. 31(2) pp 91.
