New clinical perspectives in cultural psychiatry

Interest in the relationship between culture and medicine and psychiatry is of long standing. The cultural identity of mental health professionals and patients, the patients' cultural perception of what constitutes mental illness, the patients' psychosocial, socioeconomic, and cultural milieu, and the cultural factors that impinge on a good treatment outcome can all have a major influence on the understanding of patients' symptomatology, the formulation of an accurate diagnosis, the design of an appropriate treatment plan, and efforts to achieve treatment compliance. The United States is rapidly becoming a pluralistic society. It is therefore of the utmost importance that psychiatric services in this country be provided within the framework of the patients' culture and heritage. In this article, the author provides psychiatric practitioners with a clinical foundation that incorporates a strong cultural perspective. Copyright