Continuing on the recent theme of the problematic mental health presumption that "one size fits all," as far as treatment goes....
For decades it has been becoming clear that a particular style of psychotherapy, be it humanistic, cognitive, family, psychodynamic, will have different degrees of effectiveness for different conditions. For depression, one may work better, marital stress, another.
On a related note, recent research suggests that specific psychotherapeutic approaches may not fit all cultural "feet."
In the EurekAlert piece, Psychologists warn that therapies based on positive emotions may not work for Asians, we read -
In a survey of college students, Asian respondents showed no relationship between positive emotions and levels of stress and depression. For European-American participants, however, the more stress and depression they felt, the fewer positive emotions they reported.
The study indicates that psychotherapies emphasizing positive emotions, which can relieve stress and depression in white populations, may not work for Asians, who make up 60 percent of the world population.
The findings have implications for helping the Japanese recover from natural disasters and subsequent nuclear crisis in March, and for Chinese coping with post-traumatic stress following the 2008 Sichuan province earthquake. [bold added]
Interesting. I'm wondering if in coming years we will realize that the cluster of variables that causes, say, depression, in one person, may not be identical to those causing it in another. So the most effective treatment for depression will be a number of treatments, without one "fitting all" best.
Tags: culture, mental health, stress
May 3rd, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Great information — not surprising at all. After 7 years in Japan I understand this in ways I can’t explain because part of me became Japanese while there.
May 4th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Sabio-
Very interesting. Exposure to foreign cultures can be so enlightening, providing we don’t brush differences off as “they are so weird.”
How we speak, how we eat, how we greet one another — these are just the tip of a massive iceberg of learned differences.