Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Culture, cultural factors and psychiatric diagnosis: review and projectionsDiagnosis is probably the dominant topic of discussion and debate in the psychiatric field today.The announcement of the publication of new editions of the two best known classifications, the DSM-V and the ICD-11, for 2012 and 2014 respectively, has generated a predictable, at times heated exchange of opinions, suggestions, criticisms, and research initiatives.A variety of activities (conferences, meetings, symposia) across the world, and joint declarations of harmonious work at the international level, have kept a momentum that, most likely, will not cease until long after the actual publications.It is expected that the new nomenclatures will incorporate significant changes in structure, diagnostic modalities, clinical evaluation approaches, definition and scope of disorders, and measurements of severity and level of functioning.Contributions from neurosciences and social sciences, clinical and epidemiological research, and a public health perspective will hopefully be included at realistic levels.Last but not least, national government agencies, insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and worldwide medical and professional organizations as well as the public at large are keeping a close eye on the whole process (1-3).The cultural perspective on psychiatric diagnosis has experienced uneven levels of reception and actual implementation (4), in spite of uniform pronouncements from the leading bodies of organized psychiatry and mental health across the world, professing respect and due consideration of cultural factors in the elaboration of previous, current, and future nomenclatures.Assuming the sincerity of such statements, this article will attempt an objective examination of why, what, how and when should culture be an integral part of diagnosis in psychiatry.After a brief review of general basic concepts of diagnosis, the paper will focus on history, evolution and current status of the two main classification systems in today's psychiatry.An examination of basic concepts of culture and cultural factors in psychiatric diagnosis will, then, be fol-
Source: World Psychiatry
Author: RENATO D. ALARCÓN
Institution: Mayo Clinic
Language: English
Topic: Mental Health and Psychiatry
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1704517559