Culture-bound syndromes, idioms of distress, and cultural concepts of distress: New directions for an old concept in psychological anthropology

Kaiser, Bonnie N.; Jo Weaver, Lesley

doi:10.1177/1363461519862708

Cited by 120Mental Health and PsychiatryCultural, Psychoanalytic, and Sociopolitical ReflectionsPsychology and Mental Health

Culture-bound syndromes, idioms of distress, and cultural concepts of distress: New directions for an old concept in psychological anthropology

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Kaiser, Bonnie N., Jo Weaver, Lesley·2019·Transcultural Psychiatry

DOI 10.1177/1363461519862708PMC PMC6724704

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Abstract

This issue of Transcultural Psychiatry showcases some recent work on idioms of distress – the latest in a long line of anthropological research concerned with cross-cultural concepts and experiences of distress. Mark Nichter’s (1981) seminal paper introducing idioms of distress has become a cynosure for psychological anthropology and transcultural psychiatry. A growing body of work has since accumulated; however, the last time a collection of such research was brought together was the 2010 publication of a special issue in the journal Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry organized by Devon Hinton and Roberto Lewis-Fernández. In the decade since, new questions have arisen about the boundaries and applications of idioms of distress research. In this introduction, we provide a brief history of work on idioms of distress and related concepts. Then, we introduce several major themes explored by the papers in this special issue.

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The imposition of Western conceptualizations of mental illness on non-Western cultures has been critiqued for perpetuating paternalistic practices and excluding local cosmologies.
“Furthermore, the imposition of Western conceptualizations of mental illness on non-Western cultures has been critiqued for perpetuating paternalistic practices and excluding local cosmologies, highlighting the need for emic research approaches that recognize non-Western idioms of distress (Fabian et al., 2018; Kaiser & Weaver, 2019).”
From Developing and validating the Sierra Leone perinatal psychological distress scale through an emic-etic approach (2025) · cites this paper as Kaiser & Weaver, 2019
In “This issue” (page unavailable), the paper critiques psychiatric categories that co-opt and displace local idioms of distress. “Idioms of distress: History of a concept” (page unavailable) also calls for taking local understandings seriously. These passages support the concern about excluding local perspectives, but they do not describe the imposition of Western concepts as perpetuating paternalistic practices. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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Kamzori
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Authors: Kaiser, B. N., & Jo Weaver, L.
Affiliations: University of California San Diego (US)
University of Oregon
Corresponding author: Kaiser, Bonnie N.
ORCID: Kaiser, Bonnie N.
Venue: Transcultural Psychiatry
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2019-07-26
Volume: 56
Issue: 4
Pages: 589-598
ISSN: 1363-4615 (ISSN-L)
1461-7471
DOI: 10.1177/1363461519862708
PMC: PMC6724704
OpenAlex: W2966423182
Cited by: 120
References: 45
Citations by year: 2026: 31 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3
FWCI: 59.90
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Transcultural Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders: National Institute of Mental Health (F32MH113288)
Topics: Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Cultural, Psychoanalytic, and Sociopolitical Reflections
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
Keywords: idioms of distress, culture-bound syndromes, cultural concepts of distress, psychological anthropology
MeSH terms: Ethnopsychology, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Language, Stress, Psychological

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Culture-bound syndromes, idioms of distress, and cultural concepts of distress: New directions for an old concept in psychological anthropology

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