Mental

1
Mental Physical Health
2
Discussion

• Describe the following
• What would someone with depression experience,
  feel, or describe?
• What specific kinds of things do you expect
  someone with anxiety to feel anxious or nervous
  about?
• If someone has a delusion caused by
  schizophrenia, what would it commonly be?
• What are the reasons why people commit suicide?

3
Objectives

• Describe the psychological disorders that are
  found across cultures.
• Identify the role that culture plays in the
  diagnosis of psychological disorders.
• Identify the role that culture plays in the
  expressed symptoms and course of psychological
  disorders.

4
Psychological Disorder

• A pattern of behavioral and psychological
  symptoms that causes significant personal
  distress, and/or impairs the ability to function
  in one, or more daily areas of life, or causes
  harm to the self or others.
• Different than just abnormal not just a
  violation of norms or statistically infrequent

5
Depression

• Recurrent episodes of 5 of despair,
  hopelessness, worthlessness, loss of interest in
  activities/people, negative self-evaluations,
  guilt, suicidal thoughts, loss of appetite, sleep
  disturbances, bodily pain
• Culture somatization vs. psychologization
• East Asia vs. United States
• Males vs. Females

6
Social Anxiety

• intense, irrational fear and avoidance of a
  specific social situation fear that social
  ineptitude will have negative consequences
• Cultural difference rates lower in
  interdependent cultures (conditioning?)
• taijin kyoufushou (TKS) (Japan) preoccupation
  with doing something that will make others
  uncomfortable, such as strong body odor,
  blushing, sweating, penetrating gaze

7
Schizophrenia

• Thought disorder
• Interruption to normal thinking / reasoning
  processes, especially coupled with unexplainable
  auditory or visual experiences (the brain tries
  to fill in the gaps to make sense but the result
  does not reflect reality)
• Positive Symptoms ()
• incoherence, loose associations, paranoia, clang
  associations, hallucinations (esp. auditory),
  delusions of grandeur, persecution, reference
• Negative Symptoms (-)
• loss of normal thought or behavior, catatonia,
  social withdrawal, inappropriate emotions/affect

8
Schizophrenia

• Cultural differences
• Content of hallucinations and delusions
• Initial stressors
• Social support roles

9
Suicide

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v8o0tcZ4mru8feature
  related
• Micronesia First Nations in Canada 15-24 yr
  olds
• Japan steady across ages, seppuku
• USA/Western Europe 65
• Other cultural variations method, attitude about
  consequences (ghost creation vs. honor vs.
  damnation)

10
What causes a psychological disorder?

• Biology neurotransmitter imbalances

11
What causes a psychological disorder?

• Biology genetic predispositions stress
• Stress Mental and physical condition that occurs
  when a person must adjust or adapt to the
  environment
• Autonomic NS arousal, release of cortisol,
  adrenaline, noradrenaline
• Long-term stress Stomach pain, asthma, eczema,
  hives, migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis,
  high blood pressure, colitis, heart disease, sore
  muscles (neck, back), indigestion, constipation,
  chronic diarrhea, fatigue, insomnia, sexual
  dysfunction, trigger psychological symp.

12
What causes a psychological disorder?

• Environment history of abuse, trauma, modeling,
  experience, cultural thinking (guilt, shame)
• Non-western explanations
• Ghosts, curses, imbalance in environment,
  inappropriate rituals, problem with social network

13
Stigma

• 1 Labeling people with a condition
• 2 Stereotyping people with that condition
• 3 Creating a division us and them
• 4 Discriminating against people based on their
  label
• What group of people is the most stigmatized in
  the United States? List your top 5 and agree on
  the number 1.
• Think of a positive and a negative media
  portrayal of that group.

14
Stigmatization of Psychological Disorders

• Name implies it is different from physical
  illness
• Mind/brain distinction Sounds as if its all in
  ones head
• Blame many people believe it results from poor
  choices
• Individualistic view should have personal
  responsibility control

15
Objectives

• Describe the most studied culture bound
  psychological disorders.
• Identify the role that culture plays in the
  expressed symptoms and course of psychological
  disorders.

16
Anxiety

• hikikomori social withdrawal (Japan) living as
  a recluse, no contact with anyone
• dhat syndrome (South East Asia)
  preoccupied/anxious that they are leaking semen
  (semen viewed as a source of vitality, hard to
  make), often anxiety/guilt about masturbation
• bulimia nervosa (Western) recurrent episodes of
  binging and inappropriate weight loss methods 3
  months, self-evaluation based on body weight

17
Anxiety

• koro (South Asian countries) fear that ones
  penis is shrinking into their body
• frigophobia (China) morbid fear of catching a
  cold
• susto (Latin America) feel that soul is
  dislodging from their body
• voodoo death (Africa) severe anxiety that
  someone has put a curse on them, leads to extreme
  behavior which often leads to death

18
Anxiety

• Ghost sickness (Native American) - weakness, bad
  dreams, feelings of danger, futility,
  suffocation, confusion, fainting, dizziness, loss
  of appetite

19
Psychosis

• amok (SE Asia, Malaysia) outburst of
  unrestrained violence with indiscriminate
  homicidal attacks, preceded by brooding and
  ending with exhaustion and amnesia, caused by
  stress, lack of sleep, alcohol
• latah (SE Asia, Siberia, Japan) transient
  dissociated state after a startling event with
  socially inappropriate behavior (barking, yelling
  sexual statements) followed by anmesia

20
Psychosis

• arctic hysteria (Inuit) hysterical attack with
  loss or disturbance of consciousness, resulting
  in tearing of clothes, rolling in the snow,
  speaking unknown languages

21
Somatoform disorders

• malgri physical symptoms (tired, sick, drowsy)
  after entering a new territory without performing
  the appropriate rituals
• agonies (Portugal, Azoreans) burning, loss of
  breath, hysterical blindness, sleeping/eating
  disturbances
• brain fag syndrome (West Africa, China)
  intellectual and visual impairment with burning
  sensation in head and neck, after too much mental
  work (brain exhaustion)

22
Somatoform disorders

• ataques de nervios (Puerto Rico) emotional
  events lead to palpitations, numbness, heat
  rising to head
• susto (Central America) "soul loss" resulting
  from frightful or traumatic experiences
  anorexia, diarrhea

23
Treating Disorders

• Cleansing the patient recounts the details of
  the frightening event, then lies down on the
  floor on the axis of a crucifix. The victim's
  body is then brushed with a bouquet of fresh
  herbs, while the curandero and other participants
  recite prayers. Depending on local custom, the
  curandero may also jump over the victim's body -
  this is thought by some to exhort the frightened
  soul back into the body

24
Treating Disorders

• Vimbuza (Malawi) Chilopa- animal sacrifice
• Zar ritual (Ethiopia) possessed person gathers
  with family and a priestess, animals and fruit
  are offered to the spirit and then eaten, the
  victim inhales cleansing scents and dances to
  drum music, the priestess becomes possessed with
  a spirit herself and makes peace with the
  possessing spirit possessed person is
  instructed to keep peace with spirits (do their
  bidding) to avoid relapse

25
Treating Disorders

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfrWZx6iRQ9c
  308-405
• Healing circles
• Western drugs, psychotherapy to change thinking
  or behavior, confront past experiences,
  interpersonal
• What is the long-term prognosis for treating a
  psychological disorder?
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v09kJdybTcvA until
  236

26
Objectives

• Describe how culture influences physical health
• Describe the differences in cultural views of
  maintaining health and treating illness

27
Physical Health

• What role does culture play in our overall
  physical health?
• Genes, diet, medical care, attitudes
• Psychological process linked with physical health
• stress
• Psychological process shaped and impacted by
  culture
• emotion

28
Physical Health

• Modern medicine bound by scientific method, but
  reflects culture that produces the scientists,
  doctors, and patients.
• Different beliefs in cause of problems, lead to
  different treatment practicesbeware of
  ethnocentrism!
• http//www.unnaturalcauses.org/video_clips_detail.
  php?res_id78
• http//wn.com/native_american_healing_in_the_21st_
  century_richheapecom?upload_timeall_timeorderby
  published