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Culture and Psychiatric Illness: Biomedical and Ethnomedical Aspects

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Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health and Therapy

Part of the book series: Culture, Illness, and Healing ((CIHE,volume 4))

Abstract

In this paper I will look at psychiatric illness from a biomedical as well as from an ethnomedical perspective. Several themes will be emphasized throughout the discussion. In thinking about medical problems generally, and psychiatric ones specifically, I have found it useful to distinguish between purely physical (i.e., neurophysiologic, neurochemical) factors as opposed to symbolic factors, namely psychological and social factors consisting of behaviors, feelings, etc. of the person. I have employed the terms disease and illness to designate these two sets of factors respectively. I will posit that psychiatric illness is a psychosocial “entity” which is extended in time and space. This means (1) that the domain of personal experience (e.g., self definition, attitudes toward others, emotions, etc.) and that of social activity (e.g., role functioning, social relations) together form the substance of psychiatric illness and (2) that the illness duration in time and space is critically influenced by these social-psychological factors. Furhermore, I have assumed that an individual’s theory of illness and of self, which impact on one another and are complementary, strongly influence how an underlying psychiatric disease condition expresses itself psychosocially or in psychiatric illness generally.

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Authors
  1. Horacio Fabrega Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA

    Anthony J. Marsella

  2. East-West Center, Honolulu, USA

    Geoffrey M. White

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© 1982 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Fabrega, H. (1982). Culture and Psychiatric Illness: Biomedical and Ethnomedical Aspects. In: Marsella, A.J., White, G.M. (eds) Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health and Therapy. Culture, Illness, and Healing, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9220-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9220-3_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-277-1757-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-9220-3

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