Cultural Psychiatry Research Research Articles

Dr. Ajitha Chakraborty: The first practicing Indian female psychiatrist (October 31, 1926–May 08, 2015)

Dr. Ajitha Chakraborty, popularly called Ajithadi by her students and juniors who remember her as outspoken, nonconformist, and perfectionist, was born in preindependent India on October 31, 1926. She graduated in medicine from Medical College, Bengal, then went on to get her DPM and MRCP, FRCP from England, and came back to India in 1960 after almost a decade. She was the first qualified and practicing female psychiatrist in India. She was the first lady president of IPS. She was a pioneer in the social and cultural psychiatry research, admired, and appreciated by the first-line researchers of the world in cultural psychiatry like H B M Murphy, Raymond Prince, etc. At the 5th World Congress of Psychiatry in Mexico City in 1971, she voiced her concerns that there were no sessions chaired by women and received widespread support. The Lancet requested her to write an invited article on “Culture, Colonialism and Psychiatry” in 1991. She also wrote an autobiography named, “My Life As A Psychiatrist: Memoirs And Essays”.

Reflections on current research and future challenges in cultural psychiatry

This special issue of Transcultural Psychiatry evolved from a series of symposia organized by the Transcultural Psychiatry Section of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA-TPS) for the XV World Congress of Psychiatry, held in Buenos Aires in September 2011. WPA-TPS sponsored 10 symposia on the theme “current research in transcultural psychiatry in countries and regions around the world”, as well as an over-arching symposium on “culture and person-centered medical and psychiatric care” at the congress in Buenos Aires. The symposia on current research in transcultural psychiatry around the world, comprising more than 40 individual presentations, focused on developments in Britain, The Netherlands, German-speaking countries, Scandinavian countries, France, Russia, Spanish-speaking countries, Canada, USA, Caribbean countries and Asian-Pacific countries. Presentations at these symposia led to the series of six articles that comprise this special issue, concerning transcultural psychiatry research in Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and Australia. The articles include an assessment of the historical context of the development of cultural psychiatry research in each of the countries, current research themes, their scope and limitations, future directions of research, as well as issues and challenges confronting the future of cultural psychiatry. The history of transcultural psychiatry research has been characterized by efforts to establish the cross-cultural applicability and validity of psychiatric diagnostic categories. These efforts began by using standard “western” descriptive categories and diagnoses, then progressively recognizing the need to take account of the great variation in cultural conceptions of misfortune, illness, symptom expression, acceptance of the sick role, and both functional and social impairment. There is still lively debate in the field about “western diagnostic bias” and its universal, cross-cultural application on one hand, and cultural relativism, the long-term psychopathological effects of colonial exploitation, and the psychological effects of

At the crossroads of anthropology and epidemiology: current research in cultural psychiatry in the UK.

Cultural psychiatry research in the UK comprises a broad range of diverse methodologies, academic disciplines, and subject areas. Methodologies range from epidemiological to anthropological/ethnographic to health services research; mixed methods research is becoming increasingly popular, as are public health and health promotional topics. After briefly outlining the history of cultural psychiatry in the UK we will discuss contemporary research. Prominent themes include: the epidemiology of schizophrenia among Africans/Afro-Caribbeans, migration and mental health, racism and mental health, cultural identity, pathways to care, explanatory models of mental illness, cultural competence, and the subjective experiences of healthcare provision among specific ethnic groups such as Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. Another strand of research that is attracting increasing academic attention focuses upon the relationship between religion, spirituality, and mental health, in particular, the phenomenology of religious experience and its mental health ramifications, as well as recent work examining the complex links between theology and psychiatry. The paper ends by appraising the contributions of British cultural psychiatrists to the discipline of cultural psychiatry and suggesting promising areas for future research.

Depression in China: Integrating Developmental Psychopathology and Cultural-Clinical Psychology

With a starting point in John Abela's groundbreaking developmental psychopathology research on adolescent depression in China, we aimed to review the state of the literature on Chinese depression across the lifespan. We began with Dr. Abela's published studies relevant to depression in China and our own research with adults before turning to the reference lists of these articles to find additional sources. Then we conducted literature searches using PsycINFO and PubMed to find other relevant studies published between April 2001 and April 2011. There are two distinct literatures on depression in China. Developmental psychopathology research has emphasized adolescent samples and cognitive models of causation; cultural-clinical psychology and cultural psychiatry research have emphasized adult samples and the meanings associated with emotions, symptoms, and syndromes. Both approaches to the study of depression in China have yielded important findings but have also highlighted issues that could be better addressed by incorporating the other approach. Beyond depression in China, the psychological study of culture and mental health more generally would benefit from greater exchange between developmental psychopathology and cultural-clinical psychology.

Cultural psychiatry and epidemiology: Researching the means, methods and meanings

This article describes my developing interest in cultural psychiatry. This is both a challenging and yet a privileged opportunity to reflect on my research and clinical work over the last 25 years. I describe cultural and interpersonal influences on my thinking and interests, and the development of my research career moving from health services research of specialist services, to primary care research to public mental health research. Specifically, social and cultural influences on risks and responses to mental illness are discussed, as are pathways to care, the recognition of mental illness, and public health and cultural psychiatry research.

Introduction: Cultural psychiatry research for the next decade

Introduction: Cultural psychiatry research for the next decade

Cultural experience of depression among white Britons in London

Cultural pluralism that characterises many major urban centres, especially London, underscores needs for research in cultural psychiatry to identify distinctive needs for mental health services and clinical treatment. Such questions motivated development of this study of the cultural experience and meaning of depression amongst white Britons in London, involving development of a British EMIC interview for depression by adapting an earlier version of the EMIC used in Bangalore, India. Steps in the process involved historical and ethnographic study of depression, and extensive pilot testing. This report focuses on the experience of depression with reference to patterns of distress and its meaning with reference to perceived causes. A wide range of contradictory, overlapping and linked explanations, consistent with reports from previous studies of Indian and other non-Western cultures, were notable among white Britons, whose illness concepts are likely to appear as diverse and inconsistent to an outside observer as findings from research in South Asia may be for a Western medical anthropologist. Furthermore, somatic idioms of depression, although not spontaneously reported, were frequently reported when specifically probed, raising questions about the distinctiveness of depressive and somatoform disorders as discrete diagnostic headings. The range of perceived causes are reviewed, considering the relationship between coded categories and narrative accounts that specify the interrelationship of categories in a causal web. The discussion considers the utility of the EMIC for cultural study and reflections on methodological issues arising in its adaptation and use that may help other researchers wishing to apply the framework and use the tools of cultural epidemiology.