Having a mental illness is a fact that we can’t deny, but what makes a difference, is the way we decide or are taught to deal with this condition.
We have the clear example of a recent study conducted by Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. In this study, 60 individuals with schizophrenia; 20 from San Mateo, California; 20 from Chennai, South India; and 20 from Accra, Ghana; where interviewed, and one of the questions was directed to trying to understand how they perceive their inner voices on a daily basis.
The results where revealing, because contrary to what must of us, raised on a western culture, might think, not everyone sees this voices as intrusive or aggressive. Subjects from Accra and Chennai, even though sometimes they hear violent voices, not as often as the Americans do, they state that the voices are mostly good. At times, they hear the voices of family members that encourage them to do good things. One of the Chennai’s participants even said “I have a companion to talk [to]… I need not go out to speak. I can talk within myself”.
Even if the voices were described as positive or negative in nature, in India and Ghana they are seldom seen as a psychiatric or medical issue. Whereas in America, voices are always perceived as in intrusion in their privacy, hence a bad thing and a sign of mental illness that needs to be fixed. Not one subject in America reported a positive experience, contrariwise, they emphasized the violence of the voices and the certainty of this being insane hallucinations.
The research revealed a link between how a culture perceives the mind and how auditory hallucinations are described. In the US and most western countries, the mind is seen as a separate entity from the self. As a result, everything that happens inside that can’t be controlled by oneself, is seen as unwelcomed and a threat. Outside the western world, the understanding of the mind is as part of a whole, interconnected with the self. Therefore, hallucinations and voices are not conceived as intrusive.
For a lot of mental conditions, like schizophrenia, there is not a cure, just medication and therapy. Thanks to this study and previous ones, mainly with bipolar people, that show similar findings, a lot of the therapies for schizophrenia are focused in encouraging the patients to forge relationships with the voices; and for bipolar people, to build a relationship of acceptance with oneself.
At the end, we can see that it all depends on how we take things and the conceptions created by society. Having a mental illness doesn’t mean having to stop your life, or that you need to be institutionalized, you can live with it, or coexist, depending on your vision of your mind and body.
Thank you roselilly I do hope your having a pain free day, unfortunately I'm pretty down and anxiou as next week have 3 events to celebrate with the family and I dread leaving the house. I will make sure I do it but I think it's the build up to it that's actually worse!
thank you for your kindness in commenting on my post it really is appreciated.
Society and its influence on mental illnesses https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/other-discussions/good-to-know/society-and-its-influence-on-mental-illnesses-5492015-10-15 17:14:05
Gilda
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Gilda
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Having a mental illness is a fact that we can’t deny, but what makes a difference, is the way we decide or are taught to deal with this condition.
We have the clear example of a recent study conducted by Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. In this study, 60 individuals with schizophrenia; 20 from San Mateo, California; 20 from Chennai, South India; and 20 from Accra, Ghana; where interviewed, and one of the questions was directed to trying to understand how they perceive their inner voices on a daily basis.
The results where revealing, because contrary to what must of us, raised on a western culture, might think, not everyone sees this voices as intrusive or aggressive. Subjects from Accra and Chennai, even though sometimes they hear violent voices, not as often as the Americans do, they state that the voices are mostly good. At times, they hear the voices of family members that encourage them to do good things. One of the Chennai’s participants even said “I have a companion to talk [to]… I need not go out to speak. I can talk within myself”.
Even if the voices were described as positive or negative in nature, in India and Ghana they are seldom seen as a psychiatric or medical issue. Whereas in America, voices are always perceived as in intrusion in their privacy, hence a bad thing and a sign of mental illness that needs to be fixed. Not one subject in America reported a positive experience, contrariwise, they emphasized the violence of the voices and the certainty of this being insane hallucinations.
The research revealed a link between how a culture perceives the mind and how auditory hallucinations are described. In the US and most western countries, the mind is seen as a separate entity from the self. As a result, everything that happens inside that can’t be controlled by oneself, is seen as unwelcomed and a threat. Outside the western world, the understanding of the mind is as part of a whole, interconnected with the self. Therefore, hallucinations and voices are not conceived as intrusive.
For a lot of mental conditions, like schizophrenia, there is not a cure, just medication and therapy. Thanks to this study and previous ones, mainly with bipolar people, that show similar findings, a lot of the therapies for schizophrenia are focused in encouraging the patients to forge relationships with the voices; and for bipolar people, to build a relationship of acceptance with oneself.
At the end, we can see that it all depends on how we take things and the conceptions created by society. Having a mental illness doesn’t mean having to stop your life, or that you need to be institutionalized, you can live with it, or coexist, depending on your vision of your mind and body.
Source:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/july/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614.html
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbp/v26s3/en_22342.pdf
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/journal-of-health-sciences/issues-2/vol-6-no-2-july-2012/cross-cultural-variance-of-schizophrenia-in-symptoms-diagnosis-and-treatment/