Final Project: The effect of culture on Schizophrenia

By: Janet Rodriguez

            Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects about 1% of the world population. Schizophrenia alters the way people think, feel and act. Individuals often have difficulty distinguishing between was is real and what is not real. They are also often unresponsive and may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations. The symptoms of Schizophrenia appear most often in young people between the ages of 13-25. For young males, schizophrenia can be detected earlier than females. Warning sign often include hearing and seeing things that aren’t there, a constant feeling of being watched, a change is personality or hygiene appearance, inability to sleep or concentrate, increasing withdraw from social situations and inappropriate or bizarre behavior. The cause of this particular disease is still unclear. Some suspected causes of this disease include: genetics, biology, and/or viral infections and immune disorders. Schizophrenia is not caused by poor parenting, childhood experiences, or lack of will power like many people think it is. People with Schizophrenia are not violent and dangerous to others as many people think they are. The signs of this disease are different for everyone and may develop slowly over months or years, or they may appear all at once. Recent studies have found out that Schizophrenia affects people differently based on their cultural background.

            A group of scientist at the World Health Organization studied the differences between people with schizophrenia in developed and developing countries, trying to find out if culture played a role in the development of the disease. The final results showed that the symptoms and prognosis of the disease differed from country to country. In more industrialized nations the disease is generally more severe than in developing countries. This is believed to be true because in developing countries, illnesses are believed to be caused by a type of supernatural force, therefore there is no reflection on the diseased person.

            Schizophrenic patients have tend to have delusions that reflect the themes and values of that certain individual’s culture. For example, a person with Schizophrenia from Ireland would have delusions of sainthood, because religious piety is valued. The delusions for patients in America tend to focus more on sinister uses of technology and surveillance. Some patients might report that they are being spied on by their televisions or that they are being x-rayed as they walk down the street. In Nigeria mental illnesses are believed to be cause by evil spirits, therefore the delusions may take the

form of witches or ancestral ghosts. In Japan, patient’s delusions revolve around slander or the fear of being publicly humiliated because the Japanese prize honor and social conformity. Many behaviors that would be seen as schizophrenic symptoms to the Western world, are considered are seen as spiritual delight in developing countries. If a person claimed he was a god on earth, he would be called delusional in western society but if he did that in India, he would be considered a spirit medium who is the human incarnation of a Hindu god. See the difference? Along the same lines, in African cultures, hallucinations are not always a sign of a mental disease. Shamans, who are tribal priest, act as intermediaries between the natural and the spiritual worlds. They are deeply respected for their abilities. These beliefs are cultural norms for some people and are not considered to be delusions.

A Shaman

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Sources Cited (MLA Format)

"Cross-Cultural Variance of Schizophrenia in Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment." GU Journal of Health Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

"Hallucinatory 'voices' Shaped by Local Culture, Stanford Anthropologist Says." Stanford University. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

"Schizophrenia." Mental Health America. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.