Ethnopsychiatrische Differentialdiagnostik psychotischer Phänomene

Abstract

Euroamerican diagnostic categories as stated in the manuals of ICD-10 and DSM-IV comprise the attempt to integrate psychiatric phenomena and symptoms as objective entities. They are purported to be universal and assumed to be free of culture. Former theoretical approaches on diversification ofmental disorders have been superseded bymeans of objectification, as, for example, the differentiation between the pathology of conflicts (neurosis) and the pathology of development (psychosis).

Within our increasingly globalized and migratory world, Western experts are ever more confronted with patients of Non-Western origins. In this paper, we will discuss how cultural biases that inevitably appear when patients and caregivers are of diverse backgrounds might decrease in intercultural settings. In paragraph one, we will reflect on the cultural reference system of Western/Euroamerican psychiatry and its context. In paragraph two, the history and approaches of comparative psychiatry and transcultural psychiatry will be introduced. In paragraph three, still relevant historical texts of African psychiatrists will show what difficulties evolve when Western reference systems are transferred into Non-Western contexts. Finally, an ethnopsychiatric approach will be introduced, combined with casuistics of African patients.