Culture and Mental Illness

Imperialism has given inferiority to colonial people. In some cases, this inferiority complex has evolved into a network of more complex hatred and violence. In the course of history, the powerful Western countries have invaded the Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean continually. The power of the Western countries repressed people, turned them into a submissive population and oppressed these people. Suppression brought psychological changes to oppressed people.

Discussions on the role and importance of cultural and spiritual diseases are not new and nothing new. This chapter begins with a review of the historical grounds of discussion, examines the source of current interest in these issues, and presents theoretical perspectives of empirical research leading to culture, expression, reporting and response to mental illness I will summarize. This chapter concludes by combining structural and cultural perspectives with traditional methods in investigating mental distress and more severe form of mental illness in an ethnically poor community.

The history of psychiatric disorders in the United States well reflects how trends in psychiatry and cultural understanding of psychiatric disorders affect attitudes towards national policies and mental health. It is believed that the United States has a relatively progressive mental health system, and the history and systematic status of its evolution will be discussed here. Many cultures believe that psychosis is a kind of religious punishment or possession of a devil. In ancient Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, psychosis was classified as a religious or personal problem. In the 5th century BC Hippocrates was a pioneer in the treatment of psychiatric patients but his skills are not rooted in religion and superstition, but changes in the environment, changes in the occupation of psychiatric patients, or specific substances as drugs I focused on the management of. In the Middle Ages, psychiatric patients were thought to have religious beliefs or need them.