Monday, March 22, 2010
Exporting Crazy
Ethan Watters in his book Crazy Like Us asserts that the United States is exporting ideas about mental health, and in the process is redefining people in other cultures as ill.
Basically he's saying the US is forcing its culture on other countries and is motivated by drug companies that make a big profit off of new markets. Watters says that physicians are treating patients with an American paradigm when it doesn't fit. A lot of mental illness apparently is defined by social norms, so a doctor needs to be culturally aware of the patient's background.
What do you think? Have you read the book?
Click here to find Crazy Like Us on Amazon.
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What does Watters say about the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases)? From my training in psychology, I was always under the impression that the DSM is specific to American culture, as Watters claims. It was not intended to be used internationally. The ICD-10 is a diagnostic tool that attempts to be more universal and less culture-specific.
ReplyDeleteMara