Navigating diagnoses: understanding mind-body relations, mental health, and stigma in Nepal
Open accessAbstract
Anthropologists and psychiatrists traditionally have used the salience of a mind-body dichotomy to distinguish Western from non-Western ethnopsychologies. However, despite claims of mind-body holism in non-Western cultures, mind-body divisions are prominent in non-Western groups. In this article, we discuss three issues: the ethnopsychology of mind-body dichotomies in Nepal, the relationship between mind-body dichotomies and the hierarchy of resort in a medical pluralistic context, and, finally, the role of mind-body dichotomies in public health interventions (biomedical and psychosocial) aimed toward decreasing the stigmatization of mental illness. We assert that, by understanding mind-body relations in non-Western settings, their implications, and ways in which to reconstitute these relations in a less stigmatizing manner, medical anthropologists and mental health workers can contribute to the reduction of stigma in global mental health care.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A depressive episode is viewed as the net effect of failed network regulation in the context of emotional, cognitive or somatic stress.
“A depressive episode is viewed as the net effect of failed network regulation in the context of emotional, cognitive or somatic stress. 315,319”
From Time for united action on depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission (2022) · cites this paper as [319]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Lakoff, G. P., & Johnson, M. L. (2003) · University of Chicago Press eBooks · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226470993.001.0001 · Cited by 25,252 · see citing works
Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity
(1969) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/pgmj.45.527.642 · Cited by 14,251 · see citing works
Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity.
Seeman, M. S., & Goffman, E. (1964) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2091442 · Cited by 10,716 · see citing works
Kleinman, A. (1980) · doi:10.1525/9780520340848 · Cited by 4,945 · see citing works
The Mindful Body: A Prolegomenon to Future Work in Medical Anthropology
Scheper‐Hughes, N., & Lock, M. M. (1987) · Medical Anthropology Quarterly · doi:10.1525/maq.1987.1.1.02a00020 · Cited by 2,567 · see citing works
Embodiment and Experience: The Existential Ground of Culture and Self
Csordas, T. (1995) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.2307/3034915 · Cited by 1,229 · see citing works
Rethinking Psychiatry: From Cultural Category to Personal Experience
Kleinman, A. (1988) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,221 · see citing works
Nichter, M. (1981) · Culture Medicine and Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/bf00054782 · Cited by 789 · see citing works
Flexible bodies: tracking immunity in American culture--from the days of polio to the age of AIDS
(1995) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.32-4538 · Cited by 754 · see citing works
Writing at the MarginDiscourse Between Anthropology and Medicine
Kleinman, A. (1997) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/california/9780520209657.001.0001 · Cited by 727 · see citing works
Inventing Social Categories Through Place: Social Representations and Development in Nepal
Pigg, S. L. (1992) · Comparative Studies in Society and History · doi:10.1017/s0010417500017928 · Cited by 686 · see citing works
International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge
Austen, R. A., Copper, F., & Packard, R. M. (1999) · The International Journal of African Historical Studies · doi:10.2307/220377 · Cited by 581 · see citing works
Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine
Rothstein, W. G. (1996) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.1996.03530480076048 · Cited by 496 · see citing works
Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC): Framework for Comparative Study of Illness
Weiss, M. G. (1997) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/136346159703400204 · Cited by 361 · see citing works
The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336
Bynum, C. W. (2017) · Columbia University Press eBooks · doi:10.7312/bynu18528 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Making Doctors : An Institutional Apprenticeship
(1997) · Bloomsbury Academic eBooks · doi:10.5040/9781474215107 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge
Cullather, N., Cooper, F., & Packard, R. M. (1999) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/2650390 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Of two minds: the growing disorder in American psychiatry
(2001) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.38-3935 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
The Credible and the Credulous: The Question of “Villagers' Beliefs” in Nepal
Pigg, S. L. (1996) · Cultural Anthropology · doi:10.1525/can.1996.11.2.02a00020 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Making it Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community.
Scheper‐Hughes, N., & Estroff, S. E. (1983) · Man · doi:10.2307/2801461 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336.
Noble, T. F. X., & Bynum, C. W. (1996) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/2169448 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Body and Emotion: The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas
Gellner, D. N., & Desjarlais, R. (1994) · Man · doi:10.2307/2804533 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community.
Broadhead, R. S., & Estroff, S. E. (1982) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2068824 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Pharmaceutical Citizenship: Antidepressant Marketing and the Promise of Demarginalization in India
Ecks, S. (2005) · Anthropology and Medicine · doi:10.1080/13648470500291360 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Stigma and global health: developing a research agenda
Keusch, G. T., Wilentz, J., & Kleinman, A. (2006) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(06)68183-x · Cited by 201 · see citing works
(2009) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e562142009-001 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Mikkelsen, E. J. (1993) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.1993.03500030119052 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Sensory Biographies: Lives and Deaths among Nepal's Yolmo Buddhists
Desjarlais, R. (2003) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Shweder, R. A. (1999) · Ethos · doi:10.1525/eth.1999.27.1.62 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Moral knowing in a Hindu sacred city : an exploration of mind, emotion, and self
Parish, S. M. (1994) · Columbia University Press eBooks · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Concepts of the person among the Gurungs of Nepal
McHugh, E. (1989) · American Ethnologist · doi:10.1525/ae.1989.16.1.02a00050 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Leedam, E. (1985) · International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics · doi:10.1016/0020-7292(85)90020-7 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Nepal mental health country profile
Regmi, S. K., Pokharel, A., Ojha, S. P., Pradhan, S. N., & Chapagain, G. (2004) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540260310001635186 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Cross-Cultural Differences in Somatic Presentation in Patients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Hoge, E. A., Tamrakar, S. M., Christian, K. M., Mahara, N., Nepal, M. K., Pollack, M. H., & Simon, N. M. (2006) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/01.nmd.0000243813.59385.75 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
"Somatization" and "Comorbidity": A Study of Jhum-Jhum and Depression in Rural Nepal
Kohrt, B. A. (2005) · Ethos · doi:10.1525/eth.2005.33.1.125 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationA comparative and etymological dictionary of the Nepali language
Turner, R. L., & Turner, D. R. (1931) · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Hinton, D., & Hinton, S. (2002) · Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry · doi:10.1023/a:1016374801153 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Mental health and spiritual values. A view from the East
Wig, N. N. (1999) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540269974230 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Three propositions for an evidence‐based medical anthropology
Ecks, S. (2008) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2008.00494.x · Cited by 61 · see citing works
The Mandinka Nosological System in the Context of Post-Trauma Syndromes
Fox, S. H. (2003) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1363461503404002 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Wandering with Sadhus: Ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas
Hausner, S. L. (2007) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Selves in Time and Place: Identities, Experience, and History in Nepal
Gellner, D. N., Skinner, D., Pach, A., et al. (1999) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.2307/2661214 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language
Brown, W. N., Turner, R. L., & Turner, D. R. (1931) · Journal of the American Oriental Society · doi:10.2307/593456 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Psychosocial Counselling in Nepal: Perspectives of Counsellors and Beneficiaries
Jordans, M. J. D., Keen, A. S., Pradhan, H., et al. (2007) · International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling · doi:10.1007/s10447-006-9028-z · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Of Two Minds: The Growing Disorder in American Psychiatry
Messinger, S. D. (2001) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.2001.103.2.579 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Reiffers, R., Dahal, R. P., Koirala, S., Gerritzen, R., Upadhaya, N., Luitel, N. P., Bhattarai, S., & Jordans, M. J. D. (2013) · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Psychotherapy and Religion in Japan
Silva, C. O. (2006) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203422342 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Cultural psychiatry and medical anthropology : an introduction and reader
Littlewood, R., & Dein, S. L. (2001) · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Training psychosocial counselling in Nepal: content review of a specialised training programme
Jordans, M. J. D., Tol, W. A., Sharma, B., & van Ommeren, M. (2003) · Research Portal (King's College London) · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Love and Honor in the Himalayas
McHugh, E. (2001) · University of Pennsylvania Press eBooks · doi:10.9783/9780812202762 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Other worlds: notions of self and emotion among the Lohorung Rai
(2002) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.39-2874 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Ecstasy and Healing in Nepal; an Ethnopsychiatric Study of Tamang Shamanism.
Levy, R. I., & Peters, L. G. (1983) · Man · doi:10.2307/2801468 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
The Rulings of the Night: An Ethnography of Nepalese Shaman Oral Texts
Yamada, T., & Maskarinec, G. G. (1997) · Asian Folklore Studies · doi:10.2307/1178810 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Folk belief, illness behavior and mental health in Taiwan.
Wen, J.-K. (1998) · PubMed · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Psychotherapy and Religion in Japan: The Japanese Introspection Practice of Naikan
Silva, C. O. (2006) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Bodily sovereignty as political sovereignty: ‘self‐care’ in Kolkata, India
Ecks, S. (2004) · Anthropology and Medicine · doi:10.1080/1364847042000204906 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Ramble, C. (1999) · The Journal of Asian Studies · doi:10.2307/2659185 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Reconsidering Somatic Presentation of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Nepal
Kohrt, B. A., Tol, W. A., & Harper, I. (2007) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0b013e318064e7eb · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationJhum-jhum: neuropsychiatric symptoms in a Nepali village
Kohrt, B. A., & Schreiber, S. S. (1999) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(98)05782-1 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationTausig, M., & Subedi, S. (1997) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(96)00364-4 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Cultural Psychiatry and Medical Anthropology: An Introduction and Reader
Cravalho, M. A. (2002) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.2002.104.1.364 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Shamanic Solitudes: Ecstasy, Madness and Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas
Nicoletti, M. (2007) · University of Derby Online Research Archive. (University of Derby) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
MENTAL HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL VALUES
Vickers, G. (1955) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(55)91213-7 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Integration of psychosocial counselling in care systems in Nepal
Jordans, M. J. D., & Sharma, B. (2004) · Research Portal (King's College London) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The Ancestral Forest: Memory, Space and Ritual among the Kulunge Rāi of Eastern Nepal
Nicoletti, M. (2015) · University of Derby Online Research Archive. (University of Derby) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Selves in Time and Place: Identities, Experience, and History in Nepal
Fortier, J. (2003) · American Ethnologist · doi:10.1525/ae.2003.30.4.638 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
From Western Medicine to Global Medicine: The Hospital beyond the West
Connerton, W. C. (2013) · Nursing History Review · Cited by 3 · see citing works
MCGREW, H. E. (1969) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.125.10.1458 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Harper Ian 2003 Medicine, Mission and Magic: An Anthropological Critique of Public Health Practice in Nepal Ph D Thesis University of London
- Harper Ian Maddox B 2007 The Impossibility of Wellbeing: Development Language and the Pathologisation of Nepal Anthropology of Wellbeing Corsin-Jimminez A Pluto Press
- Jordans Mark J D Tol Wietse A Sharma Bhogendra Van Ommeren Mark 2003a Training of psychosocial counselling in Nepal: content review of a specialized training program Intervention 1 18 35
- World Health Organization 2001 Legal Status of Traditional Medicine and Complementary/Alternative Medicine: A Worldwide Review Geneva World Health Organization
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Time for united action on depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission
Herrman, H., Patel, V., Kieling, C., Berk, M., Buchweitz, C., Cuijpers, P., Furukawa, T. A., Kessler, R. C., Kohrt, B. A., Maj, M., et al. (2022) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(21)02141-3 · Cited by 1,104 · see citing works
Self-citationKohrt, B. A., Jordans, M. J. D., Rai, S., Shrestha, P., Luitel, N. P., Ramaiya, M. K., Singla, D. R., & Patel, V. (2015) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2015.03.009 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
Self-citation“Thinking too much”: a systematic review of a common idiom of distress
Kaiser, B. N., Haroz, E. E., Kohrt, B. A., Bolton, P. A., Bass, J. K., & Hinton, D. E. (2015) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.044 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Self-citationTreatment gap and barriers for mental health care: a cross-sectional community survey in Nepal
Luitel, N. P., Jordans, M. J. D., Kohrt, B. A., Rathod, S. D., & Komproe, I. H. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0183223 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Self-citationKohrt, B. A., Turner, E. L., Rai, S., Bhardwaj, A., Sikkema, K. J., Adelekun, A., Dhakal, M., Luitel, N. P., Lund, C., Patel, V., et al. (2020) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112852 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Self-citationIdioms of distress, ethnopsychology, and the clinical encounter in Haiti's Central Plateau
Keys, H. M., Kaiser, B. N., Kohrt, B. A., Khoury, N. M., & Brewster, A.-R. T. (2012) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.03.040 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Self-citationPolitical violence and mental health: A multi-disciplinary review of the literature on Nepal
Tol, W. A., Kohrt, B. A., Jordans, M. J. D., Thapa, S. B., Pettigrew, J., Upadhaya, N., & de Jong, J. T. V. M. (2010) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.09.037 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Self-citationJordans, M. J. D., Kohrt, B. A., Sangraula, M., Turner, E. L., Wang, X., Shrestha, P., Ghimire, R., van’t Hof, E., Bryant, R. A., Dawson, K. S., et al. (2021) · PLOS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003621 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Self-citationAccuracy of proactive case finding for mental disorders by community informants in Nepal
Jordans, M. J. D., Kohrt, B. A., Luitel, N. P., Komproe, I. H., & Lund, C. (2015) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.113.141077 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Self-citationRasmussen, A., Keatley, E., & Joscelyne, A. (2014) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.03.015 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Sangraula, M., Turner, E. L., Luitel, N. P., van ‘t Hof, E., Shrestha, P., Ghimire, R., Bryant, R., Marahatta, K., van Ommeren, M., Kohrt, B. A., et al. (2020) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796020000414 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Self-citationFabian, K., Fannoh, J., Washington, G. G., Geninyan, W. B., Nyachienga, B., Cyrus, G., Hallowanger, J. N., Beste, J., Rao, D., & Wagenaar, B. H. (2018) · Culture Medicine and Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s11013-018-9581-z · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Ramaiya, M. K., McLean, C., Regmi, U., Fiorillo, D., Robins, C. J., & Kohrt, B. A. (2018) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22588 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Self-citationA cross-cultural interpersonal model of adolescent depression: A qualitative study in rural Nepal
Rose-Clarke, K., Hassan, E., BK, P., Magar, J., Devakumar, D., Luitel, N. P., Verdeli, H., & Kohrt, B. A. (2021) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113623 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationLuitel, N. P., Neupane, V., Lamichhane, B., Koirala, G. P., Gautam, K., Karki, E., Adhikari, S., Votruba, N., Jordans, M. J., Kohrt, B. A., et al. (2023) · SSM - Mental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100278 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationKarki, S., Laukkanen, E., Länsimies‐Antikainen, H., Voutilainen, A., & Pietilä, A. (2015) · Nursing & Health Sciences · doi:10.1111/nhs.12169 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kohrt, B. A., & Harper, I.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kohrt, Brandon A.
- ORCID
- Kohrt, Brandon A.
- Venue
- Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry
- Published
- 2008-09-11
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 462-491
- ISSN
- 0165-005X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-076X
- PMC
- PMC3869091
- OpenAlex
- W2035161072
- Cited by
- 185
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 4.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Culture Medicine and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/D003725/1)
- National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH075584)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices
- Keywords
- mind-body dichotomy, ethnopsychology, mental health stigma, mental health, medical pluralism, public health interventions, global mental health, Nepal, psychosocial interventions, biomedical interventions
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude to Health, Mental Disorders, Culture, Female, Humans, Medicine, Traditional, Nepal, Psychophysiology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
