Culture Bound Syndromes (CBS)

Abstract

Ana Almeida and Miguel Trigo

Ethnopsychiatry mobilizes the cultural knowledge of the individual/group, considering the beliefs, perceptions, interpreta- tions, and actions that are culturally constructed and acquired. From a holistic and humanist perspective of Care, the contex- tualization of the individual in their cultural specificity optimizes the process of transitioning health / mental illness. Based on the descriptive method/ reflexive analysis, typical culture disorders (CBS – Culture Bound Syndromes) present, seeking to understand the influence of culture on cognitions/behaviors in the area of health/mental illness: • Pibloktoc or Arctic hysteria (Lapland/ Siberia) - dissociative disorder • Taijin kyofusho (Japan)- social phobia • Koro (Malaysia/Thailand) - delirium • Delirious Boufée (Haiti/Africa) - psychotic outbreak There is a link between diseases, etiologies, diagnoses, treatments, prognosis, culture. And From this perspective, the disease/ mental health binomial displayed and manifested by some people be seen as bizarre, being analyzed in the context in which it operates, develops and belongs.

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