Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: June | Volume: 7 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 282-285
Regional Variations in Psychopathology, Culture Bound Syndromes and Disorders of Uncertain Nosology
Celestine O. Mume
Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, Osun State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
In this paper the author advances an opinion that different factors including the culture of an individual influence psychopathological manifestations. It is argued that we know relatively very little about the clinical conditions we deal with. Somatoform disorders and other conditions with prominent somatic symptoms are largely yet to be understood in Psychiatry. Since culture affects the expression of symptoms of many disorders, it may not be appropriate to regard some disorders as culture-bound and others as otherwise. In the light of the above the nosological status of Culture-Bound Syndromes is considered unsettled.
Key words: Culture – Bound Syndromes; nosology; psychopathology; diagnostic challenges; Somatoform disorders; treatment outcome; psychiatry