Diagnosis across cultural boundaries has become a practical rather than
an esoteric matter as migration, the number of effective psychiatric
therapies, and access to psychiatric care have increased. Cross- cultural
diagnosis involves such theoretical considerations as diagnostic
categories, pathoplasticity of psychiatric disorder, so- called
culture-bound syndromes, "emic" (intracultural) versus "etic"
(cross-cultural) conceptual frameworks, and different reporting of symptoms
and expression of signs from one cultural group to another. Important
clinical issues include distinguishing cultural belief systems from
delusions and understanding the special problems of minority, migrant, and
refugee patients.
Abstract Teaser