Debating the first principles of transcultural psychiatry

跨文化精神病学是精神病学的一部分，涉及精神疾病的起因、诊断和治疗中的文化因素。它也可能被称为“文化精神病学”或“跨文化精神病学”。这是一个医学和人文科学(尤其是人类学)自战后以来一直合作的领域，由于移民和大众媒体等全球化力量带来的文化相遇、传播和融合，这一领域的重要性日益增长。这个项目培养了对跨文化精神病学第一原则的批判性思考，在这个领域，文化以及大脑被理解为理解和治疗精神疾病的关键。项目合作者将思考跨文化精神病学理论中的一些基本问题。例如，对西方精神文化的期望是否塑造了西欧和北美背景下精神疾病的形态？为什么某些行为或经历(例如，听到声音、看到死去的亲人)在某些文化背景下被理解为无害的，而在其他文化背景下被视为精神障碍的迹象或症状？如果不寻常或奇怪的行为被理解为特定文化的正常或健康，那么精神病学是否也参与了当代认同政治，在这种政治中，文化差异得到了承认和验证？该项目将在来自不同机构和学科的许多临床和学术合作者中进行。他们将通过博客内的在线论坛进行辩论，并鼓励他们也为论坛贡献内容。进一步的思考将在两个面对面的研讨会活动中进行，在那里，合作者将有机会面对面地见面，发表演讲(可能是播客)，并进行现场讨论。学术和临床社区，以及更广泛的公众，将通过博客和网站，并通过与其他研究和知识交流倡议的协同作用，了解该项目。希望论坛和讲习班提出的反思问题不仅将影响研究，而且将影响不同文化背景下的心理保健实践，不仅包括非西方文化，而且还包括西方文化中的亚文化(例如，宗教或族裔)。

Transcultural psychiatry is the part of psychiatry concerned with cultural factors in the cause, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. It may also be known as "cultural psychiatry" or "cross-cultural psychiatry". It is a field in which medical science and the humanities (particularly anthropology) have collaborated since the post-war period, and it is growing in importance because of the encounter, diffusion, and mingling of cultures through globalising forces such as migration and the mass media. This project cultivates critical reflection upon the first principles of transcultural psychiatry, a field in which culture, as well as the brain, is understood as essential to the understanding and treatment of mental illness. The project collaborators will reflect upon a number of fundamental questions in the theory of transcultural psychiatry. For instance, do the expectations of Western psychiatric culture mould the shape of mental illness in Western European and North American contexts? Why are certain kinds of behaviour or experience (for example, hearing voices, seeing dead loved ones) understood as harmless in certain culture contexts, and as a sign or symptom of mental disorder in others? If unusual or peculiar behaviour is understood as normal or healthy for a particular culture, then is psychiatry also taking part in the contemporary politics of identity, in which cultural difference is recognised and validated? The project will be conducted amongst a number of clinical and academic collaborators, from a variety of institutions and disciplines. They will debate via an on-line forum hosted within a blog, to which they will be encouraged to also contribute content. Further reflection will take place at two face-to-face workshop events, where the collaborators will have a chance to meet in person, make presentations (which may be podcasted), and engage in live discussion. The academic and clinical community, and the wider public, will learn about the project via the blog and website, and through synergies with other research and knowledge exchange initiatives. It is hoped that reflective issues developed in the forum and workshops will impact not only research, but also the practice of mental healthcare in diverse cultural contexts, including not only non-Western cultures, but also subcultures (for example, of religion or ethnicity) within Western culture.