culture and the individual
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Culture and the Individual. Culture and Mental Illness. Definitions for Mental Illness. Patterns of behavior and feeling that are out of keeping with cultural expectations that bother the person who acts and feels them and/or that bother others around the person. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Culture and the Individual
Culture and Mental Illness
Definitions for Mental Illness
• Patterns of behavior and feeling that are out of keeping with cultural expectations that bother the person who acts and feels them and/or that bother others around the person.
• This implies a statistical model of recognizing mental illness.
Models for Explaining Mental Illness
Organic/Medical model - something is wrong biochemically and treatment should correct the chemical imbalance
Psychogenic model – disturbances in the self that affect the an individual’s ability to function psychologically, socially and culturally
Culturally derived model – behaviors and personality traits that deviate significantly from cultural norms
Questions about Mental Illness Cross-Culturally
• Is mental illness present in all cultures?
• Is there more mental illness in modern complex societies or in traditional, non-literate cultures?
• Are some societies harder to live in and therefore produce more mental illness?
• Are different societies characterized by different types of mental illness?
Laindjura Case Study
Murngin Tribe, Arnhem Land, Australia• Laindjura is a killer and sorcerer• Claims to have murdered many people• Murders could not have happened as he
describesEG. Tomahawking a young girl between the eyes, pushing his arm up
through her vagina, pulling out some of her intestines, grasped her heart, collected some of her heart’s blood, sprinkled ants on the girl’s intestines, then pushed the intestines back into the body and repaired all wounds so that nothing was visible. Told the girl that she would die in two days. She gathered lilies, laughing with other women and died two days later.
Laindjura Case Study
Murngin tribesmen describe Laindjura as:
“a good hunter, an excellent wood carver who had several wives and a number of children.”
He was considered perfectly normal in his society.Is he mentally ill if the rest of society sees him as normal?
Culture Bound DisordersWindigo
• Chippewa, Cree, Montagnais-Naskapi Indians in Canada – both males and females
• Cannibalistic impulses, delusions, nausea, anorexia, insomnia
• Delusions about other people turning into edible animals
• Belief that affected person is possessed by a cannibal giant with a heart or entrails of ice
• Actual cannibalism does occur in some cases, usually with a close family member eaten
• Windigo sufferer frequently killed by members of the group
Culture-Bound Disorders
Ghost Sickness
Affects Kiowa Apache men and women
Occurs at the time of mourning
85% of adults report having the syndrome
Fear of ghosts
Cannibalistic fantasies
Attacked by ghosts
Culture-Bound DisordersGeneral symptoms
Easily frightenedCompulsive imitative behavior (echopraxia)Compulsive imitative speech (echolalia)
LatahAffects women in SouthEast AsiaAffects men in Mongolia
ImuAffects elderly Ainu women in Northern Japan
SakaAffects women in Kenya, Africa
Culture-Bound DisordersAmok Disorders
SymptomsExtreme agitationRunning aimlesslyJumping up and downBreak with realityIncrease in respiratory and circulatory activitySweating and a decrease in skin temperature
PibloktoqArctic cultures
Wild Man New Guinea
AmokIndonesia
Recognizing Mental Illness Cross-Culturally
• Hospital admission rates
• Using criteria developed from patients in modern Western culture
• Using dysfunction and discomfort in everyday life as a criteria
Treating Mental Illness
All therapies
mobilize a sense of hope
include rituals that make patient feel like something effective is being done
Active vs quiet therapies
Individualistic vs community-based therapies
Active Treatment
Abreaction Therapies
Work the patient up into a state of excitement leading to exhaustion and collapse
Symptoms sometimes disappear on recovery
Similar effects to electric shock treatment
Active Treatment
Ho’oponopono Traditional Hawaiian Society
Group therapy that involves everyone in the household.Group focuses on the problem, with each
person taking a share of responsibility for the problem.Meeting lasts until a complete resolution is
reached
Active Therapies
• Mexican American Curandera – Girl is depressed and suicidal– Treated at hospital without success– Physical trial component– Psychological component– Social support component
Quiet TherapiesMorita Therapy
Patient spends 4-7 days in bed isolatedNo talking with anyoneNo meeting with anyoneNo reading, writing, mediaNo eating between meals
Patient spends 3-7 days out of bed isolatedSame above plus no physical exerciseWrites in a diary that is critiqued by a doctor
Patient spends 7-29 days isolatedSame above with assigned chores
Patient can shop and do some reading (no literature, philosophy)
Quiet TherapiesNaikan Therapy
Patient is required to
review his/her life
think about what he/she has received
meditate about whether he/she deserves this
Lasts 7 days from 5:30am to 9:00pm
Counselor interviews patient periodically to assure compliance with rules
Goal is to
get patient back into a responsible position in society
instill a renewed sense of gratitude and respect.