Neurasthenia-Depression Controversy: A Window on Chinese Culture and Psychiatric Nosology

This book explores the impact of culture on psychopathology, particularly in relation to China, and provides a critical assessment of anthropological psychiatry. It argues that psychiatric nosology and the broader cultural milieu interact in a way that facilitates individual conformity to culturally salient categories, leading to the translation of codified experiences from the mind to the body and back again. The book challenges conventional wisdom about neurasthenia and depression in Chinese societies and will be of value to anyone working with Chinese people with these mental illnesses.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 222 pages
\n Publication date: 06 April 2021
\n Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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This comprehensive and critical assessment of anthropological psychiatry has profoundly influenced Western physicians' understanding of somatization and culture. It argues that psychiatric nosology and the broader cultural milieu interact in a fascinating way, co-facilitating individual conformity to culturally salient categories through a process of belief, expectation, and learning. This translation of codified experiences from the mind to the body and back again results in the development of somatic symptoms. By examining the Neurasthenia-Depression controversy, this book offers a valuable insight into the contested and shifting nature of psychiatric nosology. It aims to introduce a model that elucidates how psychiatric distress varies across cultures, shedding light on the complexities of mental health in diverse societies.

This book explores the largest debate in cultural psychiatry, its impact on diagnosing, theorizing, and clinical practice. It also delves into the role of culture in psychopathology, particularly in relation to China. It is the first comprehensive and critical evaluation of anthropological psychiatry, which has provided Western physicians with ideas about somatization and culture. The book argues that psychiatric nosology and the broader cultural milieu interact in a fascinating way, co-facilitating individual conformity to culturally salient categories through a process of belief, expectation, and learning. This results in the translation of codified experiences from the mind to the body and back again, leading to the development of somatic symptoms. By examining the Neurasthenia-Depression controversy, the book offers a valuable insight into the contested and shifting nature of psychiatric nosology. It aims to introduce a model that elucidates how psychiatric distress varies across cultures, shedding light on the complexities of mental health in diverse societies.

\n Weight: 506g\n
Dimension: 242 x 160 x 20 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780367623012\n \n