CHAPTER 18 - Sociocultural Changes and Prevalence of Mental Disorders in Taiwan

Abstract

This chapter reviews the epidemiological findings about mental disorders as reported since the early 1940s. The chapter explores as to how sociocultural change effects mental health as reflected in changes in the frequency and nature of disorders such as neurosis, suicide, juvenile delinquency, and alcohol abuse. Social and cultural changes may theoretically be expected to affect the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders in a number of ways. Social change involves shifts in the hierarchical rankings within the social structure, geographic mobility, urbanization, and a host of political and economic processes, including the redistribution of occupations and other patterns. With cultural change, effects are noted in modifications and variations in lifestyles, values, and beliefs as they pertain to patterns of human interaction and to the utilization of objects of material culture. To evaluate the impact of rapid cultural change on mental disorders, it is suggested that two dimensions, namely, traditional-changing culture and social integration-disintegration, should be considered together.