Throughout the world there are many laws, treatments, and public perceptions concerning mental health which vary across different cultures. Cultures around the world each have implemented their own guidelines regarding mental illness. Each culture has also held on to traditional beliefs and practices for the treatment of these conditions. These cultures’ perceptions on mentally ill individuals have impacted how their leaders, governments, and mental health services have treated such individuals.
Japan is one country that has faced various changes to their mental health system and laws over its history. According to Nonaka and Hirasawa (2012), the mental health system in Japan as it has been established was influenced by the mental health standards …show more content…
This somatization can be possibly due to the stigmatization of mental illnesses. Possibly also due to this stigmatization, patients don’t go to psychiatrists and instead go to local or spiritual healers, general practitioner or internist because of the physical manifestation of symptoms and so are not properly treated. Mental illnesses can also be mistaken for supernatural things due to local superstitions which is why patients might go to healers instead of a general practitioner. Plus, in the Middle East, there is little to no communication between doctors and healers in most locations so the patients cannot be referred to the right source and medical doctors are not made aware of cases where they should be involved. However, in Jordan, healers and doctors are interacting, just not in an organized or formal way and Saudi Arabia has healers as part of the medical …show more content…
So many people cannot afford health insurance and cannot afford to pay out of pocket for mental health checkups or evaluations. Mental health acts are also lacking or nonexistent in most Middle Eastern countries so people who are in financial need are almost completely unable to get the help that they need.
People not following cultural rules and participating in activities such as drinking, premarital sex, or nonobservance of fasting, may be taken to psychiatrists to assess mental states. Finding them mentally ill can allows legal punishment to be evaded by these people who are breaking cultural codes or legal codes depending on the area. Allowing them to evade these punishments saves their family shame and still allows the family to arrange a marriage for
Japan is one country that has faced various changes to their mental health system and laws over its history. According to Nonaka and Hirasawa (2012), the mental health system in Japan as it has been established was influenced by the mental health standards …show more content…
This somatization can be possibly due to the stigmatization of mental illnesses. Possibly also due to this stigmatization, patients don’t go to psychiatrists and instead go to local or spiritual healers, general practitioner or internist because of the physical manifestation of symptoms and so are not properly treated. Mental illnesses can also be mistaken for supernatural things due to local superstitions which is why patients might go to healers instead of a general practitioner. Plus, in the Middle East, there is little to no communication between doctors and healers in most locations so the patients cannot be referred to the right source and medical doctors are not made aware of cases where they should be involved. However, in Jordan, healers and doctors are interacting, just not in an organized or formal way and Saudi Arabia has healers as part of the medical …show more content…
So many people cannot afford health insurance and cannot afford to pay out of pocket for mental health checkups or evaluations. Mental health acts are also lacking or nonexistent in most Middle Eastern countries so people who are in financial need are almost completely unable to get the help that they need.
People not following cultural rules and participating in activities such as drinking, premarital sex, or nonobservance of fasting, may be taken to psychiatrists to assess mental states. Finding them mentally ill can allows legal punishment to be evaded by these people who are breaking cultural codes or legal codes depending on the area. Allowing them to evade these punishments saves their family shame and still allows the family to arrange a marriage for