Such individuals might shun talking openly about their mental health problems because of the internal tussle. The stigma around mental health is typically divided into two categories. In this way, cross-cultural psychotherapy might allow patients more room to explore things that might be stigmatized within their own communities. A general understanding of what it means to live in my patient’s cultural world will allow me to gain key insights into the person’s experience. Gen Z , are the most digitally connected, socially conscious, and culturally adaptive generation in history. Returning to work after a long-term absence, whether due to illness, injury, mental health challenges, or caregiving responsibilities, is a significant transition.
Title:How Culture Shapes Mental Health
In this article, we’ll explore how different cultures approach mental health and what valuable lessons we might carry into our own lives. Understanding mental health through a cross-cultural lens doesn’t just broaden our knowledge—it offers alternative ways to cope, heal, and support ourselves and others. Studies have shown that, in the US, white people are significantly more likely than any other race or ethnicity to seek mental health treatment.
Social Perception of Mental Illness
- So hopefully the stigma is changing, even with the adults that were in the audience, they’re just hearing that if the kids have these needs, then we’re going to have to educate ourselves on how this system can support our children.
- Western notions about mental illness also can have great bearing on understanding serious psychotic disorders.
- If you could have a conversation with any mental health advocate—past or present—who would it be and why?
- For example, the prevalence of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety is far greater amongst the LGBTQ population than among heterosexual and cisgender individuals .
Because together, we can break down barriers and build a world where mental well-being is everyone’s priority. Whether you’re on the giving or receiving end of the conversation, know that reaching out is a powerful first step towards healing and understanding. Start small, sharing only what you’re comfortable with, and remember that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. It’s okay to be selective about who you share with, ensuring they’re someone you trust to respond with kindness and support. Encouraging someone to seek professional help is one of the most supportive steps you can take. Sometimes, being heard is all someone needs to feel supported.
In many cultures:
For instance, assumptions about how depression manifests can differ widely across cultures and communities. These issues tend to surface when Western clinicians and researchers make assumptions about what types of behaviors, attitudes, and norms are optimal— contributing to what some mental health experts see as form of medical colonialism. Understanding the impact of culture Mental Health Podcast RSS Feed on mental health requires that researchers and clinicians challenge their assumptions and acknowledge their biases and blind spots. In this example and others, researchers increasingly appreciate how culture, values, and mental health are enmeshed and remarkably complex. By drawing on this research, more effective and culturally syntonic interventions may be designed because the adaptations in evidence based treatments can be tailored to specific aspects of the client’s cultural background that affect treatment. These ethnic group variations must be further investigated in order to fully respond to the mental health treatment needs of individual clients through evidence-based practice standards.
Mahony and Donnelly (44) also point out that spiritual and traditional healing practices can prove very useful in terms of promoting immigrant women’s mental health. Boksa et al. (37) also reiterate the centrality of local Indigenous knowledge as a guide to the development of relevant mental health systems. Much of the literature in the field points to the need for holistic health services that incorporate the total context in which health and illness are experienced (12, 44, 52). As an example, the provision of the cultural formulation interview in the DSM-5 is a positive step especially as it seeks to explore cultural identity, conceptualization of illness, psychosocial stressors, vulnerability, and resilience as well as the cultural features of the relationship between the clinician and the patient (51). Traditional healers and healing systems are being replaced by Western systems that can suffer from inadequate resourcing and may be culturally inappropriate (50). In practice, there is a strong likelihood that therapists would be working with clients from cultures very different from their own and making assessments without linguistic, conceptual and normative equivalence, which could lead to many errors in service provision decision (45).
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