Navigating diagnoses : understanding mind鈥揵ody relations, mental health, and stigma in Nepal
Abstract
Anthropologists and psychiatrists traditionally have used the salience of a mind鈥揵ody dichotomy to distinguish Western from non-Western ethnopsychologies. However, despite claims of mind鈥揵ody holism in non-Western cultures, mind鈥揵ody divisions are prominent in non-Western groups. In this article, we discuss three issues: the ethnopsychology of mind鈥揵ody dichotomies in Nepal, the relationship between mind鈥揵ody dichotomies and the hierarchy of resort in a medical pluralistic context, and, finally, the role of mind鈥揵ody dichotomies in public health interventions (biomedical and psychosocial) aimed toward decreasing the stigmatization of mental illness. We assert that, by understanding mind鈥揵ody relations in non-Western settings, their implications, and ways in which to reconstitute these relations in a less stigmatizing manner, medical anthropologists and mental health workers can contribute to the reduction of stigma in global mental health care.
Citation
Kohrt, B.A.; Harper, I. Navigating Diagnoses: Understanding Mind–Body Relations, Mental Health, and Stigma in Nepal. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry (2008) 32 (4) 462-491. [DOI: 10.1007/s11013-008-9110-6]