Understanding Culture and
Mental Illness
Culture is an aspect of everyone's life. It helps others to understand another person's beliefs and actions. There are multiple cultures in the world which are opposed to their own kind seeking help for a mental illness. There is an infinite number of cultures that are represented in the United States. “Many cultural and religious teachings often influence beliefs about the origins and nature of mental illness, and shape attitudes towards the mentally ill.” (1). One's cultural beliefs can make them think about whether or not they should seek to get help for a mental illness. Among the cultures around the world and particularly in the US, many Asian cultures do not want the community members to be receiving help for their mental illness. In these cultures mental illness is seen as shameful, because these cultures influence the “conformity to norms, emotional self-control, and family recognition through achievement.” (1). There are many cultural factors that play a role in whether or not a person will receive therapy. These factors include: language, level of acculturation, age, gender, occupational issues, family structure, religious beliefs, and traditional beliefs about mental health (2). Language limits the access of therapy. If a person living in the United States does not speak English very well, it could influence them to not seek therapy. There is a large focus on “in-group/out-group” in many Asian cultures, as in everyone who is in the family/community around them are in the “in-group” and everyone else who is not like them are in the “out-group.”
Standard Asian American
Cultural Expectations
Numerous Asian American families have certain expectations based on their cultu...
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...m et al.). Focusing on the perceptions of clients allows one to understand more of what needs to be done to gain more clients who are from an Asian culture. The findings of Jim (2007) were as followed: there were three different understandings; one, the ability or inability of the therapist to understand culture context was very important to some; two, having the experience of being able to talk to someone without cultural constraints was helpful to some; and three, culture seemed to have infinitesimal value. Most if not all clients who participated in Jim's study had a major underlying theme to their responses, they valued being able to talk about problems in a safe environment with someone whom they trusted. Therapists need to both understand a client's culture but also “the client's unique dilemmas and distress within the context of cultural values.” (Jim, p.22).
As an expat child having gown up and lived across three continents-politely labelled as a third culture kid, but in reality not belonging to any one culture-I doubt if my own parents would understand me let alone a doctor in another country. My mother suffers from trichotillomania and on visiting a psychiatrist in a foreign country, he mentioned not seeing this disease often in his country: he had made her feel at once both alienated and awkward, and not likely to trust his diagnosis or his treatment. I have seen her throwing her medication away- Pharmacotherapy cannot work without psychotherapy-and the demands of psychotherapy seem to be only increasing when you add a complex cultural element to it. Gold and his brother argue that both biological and social factors contribute to psychosis. In the field of psychiatric and behavioural sciences this would call for physicians skilled in appreciating all sorts of cultures and environments and while this may seem a tall order, a first step towards a solution would lie in acknowledging the role and importance of such external stimuli. Doctors cannot know it all but at least when they give a label it will be real. In a field where labels tend to stick and where the social stigma attached to mental illness is still considerable, it is worth while for doctors to make more informed diagnoses. Diagnoses that we can
Culture is a collection of religion, traditions, and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture is created and maintained through the repetition of stories and behavior. It is never definite because it is continuously being modified to match current trends, however, historical principles are still relevant. With respect to mental illness, culture is crucial to how people choose to deal with society and the methods used to diagnose and cope with mental illnesses. In Watters’ The Mega-Marketing Depression of Japan, he focuses on how Japan and other cultures define depression, but also displays how the influence of American treatments in eastern countries eventually becomes the international standards. Even though the
Counselors today face the task of how to appropriately counsel multicultural clients. Being sensitive to cultural variables can be conceptualized as holding a cultural lens to human behavior and making allowances for the possibility of cultural influence. However, to avoid stereotyping, it is important that the clinician recognize the existence of within-group differences as well as the influence of the client’s own personal culture and values (Furman, Negi, Iwamoto, Shukraft, & Gragg, 2009). One’s background is not always black or white and a counselor needs to be able to discern and adjust one’s treatment plan according to their client.
Culture can be defined as behaviors exhibited by certain racial, religious, social or ethnic groups. Some factors in which culture may vary include: family structure, education, and socioeconomic status (Kodjo, 2009). Some may think cultural competence is something that has an end point, however, when the big picture is seen, it is a learning process and journey. From the writer’s perspective, the client-therapist relationship can be challenging. Culturally competent therapists must realize that behaviors are shaped by an individual’s culture. Many changes are taking place within the United States cultural makeup. Therapists and healthcare professionals are being challenged to provide effective and sensitive care for patients and their families. This type of culturally sensitive care requires the professional to be open and seek understanding in the patients diverse belief systems (Kodjo, 2009).
Race and ethnicity can influence a client’s experience of self and others in a variety of ways. A client’s personal race and ethnicity can influence his or her experience within the context of therapy through the set of beliefs he or she brings into the room. This set of beliefs and customs influences how he or she views therapy and whether there is motivation to be there. If the client’s culture does not usually seek therapy for their problems, or even believe in mental illness, it is likely the client will have apprehensions about trusting or speaking to the clinician. If the clinician is not aware of this possibility, the clinician may wonder why the client is in therapy if he or she will not speak or allow rapport to be built. A responsible clinician will take this into consideration.
Cultural Competence Understanding culture is an important aspect of being a social worker; this does not mean learning common cultural traits is of great significance to the social work profession. “Consider the second-generation Japanese-American social worker whose practice consists of Mexican-American and African-American families. Memorizing national traits or cultural rituals would be interesting and informative, but ultimately these would be an inaccurate basis on which to “know” these particular families” (Dorfman, 1996, p. 33). When understanding cultural competence, it is important to learn from the client about their culture in order to serve them in the most helpful and efficient way possible. There is a major drawback to memorizing information, and that is, this information will not give you a real understanding of who your client is and what life experiences they have personally faced.
Remember, self-reflection is vital to becoming a culturally-competent counselor. The counselor should consistently re-examine their worldview and personal beliefs about diverse individuals and other cultures. The idea is for the counselor to explore their own prejudices, emotions, and preconceived notions of those that differ from themselves. Remaining curious and willing to learn about culturally distinct groups is a practical way of working effectively with varied clients in counseling and understanding what barriers and prejudices are typical in their
Culture has a huge influence on how people view and deal with psychological disorders. Being able to successfully treat someone for a mental illness has largely to do with what they view as normal in their own culture. In Western cultures we think that going to a counselor to talk about our emotions or our individual problems and/or getting some type of drug to help with our mental illness is the best way to overcome and treat it, but in other cultures that may not be the case. In particular Western and Asian cultures vary in the way they deal with psychological disorders. In this paper I am going to discuss how Asian cultures and Western cultures are similar and different in the way they view psychological disorders, the treatments and likelihood of getting treatment, culture bound disorders, and how to overcome the differences in the cultures for optimal treatments.
Culture is a way of living; a total way of life held in common by a group of people, including speech, religion, behavior, technology, livelihood, government, and the local way of doing things. Cultural geographers observe material culture elements and the physical landscape to determine how humans have impacted the area, which is what we were assigned to do for our project. We were asked to focus on a specific suburb and observe the ethnic culture there by housing types, shops, organizations, etc. The suburb I chose was Lincoln, RI. I travelled there to take photographs of the area to help me understand its culture. I used all of this information to determine the changes it has undergone throughout the years, reflecting its citizens' lives.
Culture is a shared set of beliefs. Our reading includes these few sentences, “A religious group, community, or nation each has a set of cultural norms, or expectations for behavior. When a person deviates from these norms, as a person with a psychological disorder might, he or she may be identified as "abnormal." This means that many people might have these feelings about their disorder that they do not want to share because they are afraid of ridicule and judgement. A lot people experience this judgement when they are told their mental illness isn’t
According to Webster’s Dictionary, culture is defined as tradition or a way of life. It is also a defining principle in how we live our life and the type of people we become. The Salish Indians of the Montana and Celie, the main character of the book The Color Purple, are two examples of cultures that made them who they are. Celie is a poor, black, woman growing up in Memphis, Tennessee in the mid-twentieth century. The men have constantly put her down, through beatings and rape, for being a woman with no talent at all. Her husband’s lover comes to town and gives Celie a chance to see a culture where a woman can stand up for herself and teaches her that love is possible. The Salish on the other hand have a culture that has gone on through the ages and still is a part of each person today despite the obstacles they have had to face. Culture does shape us because from birth it is what tells us our ideals, laws, and morals that we live by each day.
In addition, some clients may want to explore their multiple identities and how they position themselves in a world that is highly influenced by culture. Nonetheless, as I read this question, I realized that there is no right or wrong answer. Similarly, there is no right or wrong reason to come to therapy. Therapy is for the individuals who want help regardless of a reason or problem. It is possible that some clients may not have a problem but that is not for the therapist to judge. Instead, the therapist must remain curious and explore the client’s perception of the problem or problems in order to identify unique outcomes and help build preferred
Children across the globe have toys in common within their culture related to the act of play. Depending on the use of these toys, they can either help or hinder a child’s development. While children develop certain behaviors genetically, others are learned from their experiences, parents, surroundings, and, most notably, toys. Through toys they can establish communication and motor skills, encourage logical thinking, and enhance imagination. Childhood and culture influence children’s identities and behaviours, and also reinforces gender roles. The focus of this paper are the factors and implications of stereotyped toys . In order to understand the influences of these toys, the meaning of gender must be explored. Gender is the socio-cultural dimension of being male or female. It is formed from what children are associated and exposed to. Childhood toys influence gender from an early age, resulting in gender differences in both cognitive and social development.
Anthropologists define the term culture in a variety of ways, but there are certain shared features of the definition that virtually all anthropologists agree on. Culture is a shared, socially transmitted knowledge and behavior. The key features of this definition of culture are as follows. 1) Culture is shared among the members of that particular society or group. Thus, people share a common cultural identity, meaning that they recognize themselves and their culture's traditions as distinct from other people and other traditions. 2) Culture is socially transmitted from others while growing up in a certain environment, group, or society. The transmission of cultural knowledge to the next generation by means of social learning is referred to as enculturation or socialization. 3) Culture profoundly affects the knowledge, actions, and feelings of the people in that particular society or group. This concept is often referred to as cultural knowledge that leads to behavior that is meaningful to others and adaptive to the natural and social environment of that particular culture.
The first definition of ‘culture’ by Oxford’s Dictionary is ‘art, literature, music and other intellectual expressions of a particular society or time’ (“Culture,” Oxford’s Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English). Anthropologist of culture, Raymond Williams argued that the term ‘culture’ was first used in reference to the cultivation of crops which was later associated in relation to the cultivation of the human mind, hence the expression ‘cultured/cultivated person’. The noun of process thenceforth grew into a noun of configuration in the later 18th century where culture meant ‘the generalisation of the ‘spirit’ which informed the ‘whole way of life’ of a distinct people’ (Williams, 1981) implying a common ‘way of life’ shared between a group of people or community. The plural of culture was first used to clearly differentiate from ‘any singular and unilinear sense of civilization by Herder (1784-1991)’ (Williams, 1981). However, followed by the development of comparative anthropology in the nineteenth century resulted in the construction of the new meaning of culture – ‘to designate a whole at and distinctive way of life’ (Williams, 1981) based on a set and questions emphasized on the ‘lived culture’.