Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:1390-1394
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychosis in a peasant society: social outcomes
J Westermeyer
Several clinicians have theorized that somatic and residential treatments
have an untoward effect on the eventual outcome of major mental illness. To
test this hypothesis, the author studied social coping behavior of mentally
ill people in Laos, a predominantly peasant society with no psychiatrists
or psychiatric hospitals. The Lao folk term baa ("crazy" or insane) was
used in determining cases. Social factors studied included legal problems,
family contact, sociability, friendship, communal activities, sexuality,
and work. Results indicated that levels of social function in this sample
were quite limited. The author concludes that social disability associated
with chronic psychosis cannot be ascribed totally to diagnostic labeling or
institutionalization.
