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From post-traumatic stress disorder to cultural bereavement: Diagnosis of Southeast Asian refugees

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  • Eisenbruch, Maurice

Abstract

There are pitfalls in the singular application of western categories in diagnosing psychiatric disorders and distress among refugees. Based on my research with Cambodian refugees I argue that cultural bereavement, by mapping the subjective experience of refugees, gives meaning to the refugee's distress, clarifies the 'structure' of the person's reactions to loss, frames psychiatric disorder in some refugees, and complements the psychiatric diagnosis categories. Cultural bereavement includes the refugees' picture--what the trauma meant to them; their cultural recipes for signalling their distress; and their cultural strategies for overcoming it--and the cultural interpretation of symptoms commonly found among refugees that resemble post-traumatic stress disorder. Cultural bereavement may identify those people who have post-traumatic stress disorder on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria but whose 'condition' is a sign of normal, even constructive, rehabilitation from devastatingly traumatic experiences. Cultural bereavement should be given appropriate status in the nosology.

Suggested Citation

  • Eisenbruch, Maurice, 1991. "From post-traumatic stress disorder to cultural bereavement: Diagnosis of Southeast Asian refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 673-680, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:33:y:1991:i:6:p:673-680
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    Cited by:

    1. Pedersen, Duncan & Tremblay, Jacques & Errázuriz, Consuelo & Gamarra, Jeffrey, 2008. "The sequelae of political violence: Assessing trauma, suffering and dislocation in the Peruvian highlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 205-217, July.
    2. Peter Cheung, 1995. "Acculturation and Psychiatric Morbidity Among Cambodian Refugees in New Zealand," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 41(2), pages 108-119, June.
    3. Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen, 2019. "Those Who Stayed: Individualism, Self-Selection and Cultural Change during the Age of Mass Migration," Discussion Papers 19-01, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    4. Abramowitz, Sharon A., 2005. "The poor have become rich, and the rich have become poor: Collective trauma in the Guinean Languette," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(10), pages 2106-2118, November.
    5. Rajkumar, Anto P. & Premkumar, Titus S. & Tharyan, Prathap, 2008. "Coping with the Asian tsunami: Perspectives from Tamil Nadu, India on the determinants of resilience in the face of adversity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 844-853, September.
    6. Alean Al-Krenawi, 1999. "Explanations of Mental Health Symptoms By the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(1), pages 56-64, March.
    7. Gamze Sabancı Uzun, 2022. "Bernhard Schlink’s the Reader, the Trauma of Second-Generation Germans," European Journal of Language and Literature Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 8, ejls_v8_i.
    8. Peter Cheung, 1994. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Cambodian Refugees in New Zealand," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 40(1), pages 17-26, March.
    9. Patrick Heuveline & Angela K. Clague, 2024. "Parental Loss and Mental Health in Post-Khmer-Rouge Cambodia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Rasmussen, Andrew & Keatley, Eva & Joscelyne, Amy, 2014. "Posttraumatic stress in emergency settings outside North America and Europe: A review of the emic literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 44-54.
    11. Batniji, Rajaie & Van Ommeren, Mark & Saraceno, Benedetto, 2006. "Mental and social health in disasters: Relating qualitative social science research and the Sphere standard," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1853-1864, April.
    12. Yong Li & Yuqi Guo, 2018. "The Relation between Acculturation and Psychological Well-Being among Adolescents of Asian Origin," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(4), pages 1-12, April.
    13. Judith Zur, 1996. "From PTSD to Voices in Context: From an "Experience-Far" to an "Experience-Near" Understanding of Responses to War and Atrocity Across Cultures," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(4), pages 305-317, December.
    14. Dinesh Bhugra & Antonio Ventriglio, 2024. "Are rituals important for mental health?," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 70(2), pages 235-236, March.
    15. Alissa Der Sarkissian & Jill D. Sharkey, 2021. "Transgenerational Trauma and Mental Health Needs among Armenian Genocide Descendants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-10, October.

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