Beliefs about mental illness and its impact on attitudes toward treatment : an examination of the Asian-Indian immigrant population in the United States

Abstract

This literature review evaluates the current research regarding beliefs related to mental illness among the Indian immigrant population in the United States. The literature is evaluated within the Ecological Model as a metatheory, using the construct of stigma and its influences on beliefs about mental illness as another guiding framework. In the present review, a history of the Indian immigrant population is provided alongside information about acculturation and current information regarding beliefs about mental illness both in India and among Indian immigrants in the United States. This review of the literature finds that the Indian immigrant population is growing in numbers, and is at risk for mental illness. For this reason, it is important to learn this population's beliefs about how mental illness and how it informs attitudes toward seeking treatment.

Traditional Healing – At What Cost ?: A Case Report from Rural India

“…Joel and others observed that 87.5% of the study participants from southern India attributed origins of psychiatric disorders to non-biomedical causes, such as black magic and evil spirits [6]. Popat-Jain observed that cultural beliefs had a negative relationship with attitudes toward treatment, demonstrated that individuals who held more culturally based beliefs, had a more negative attitude toward seeking treatment [7]. Shidhaye and Vankar explored traditional healing practices in 201 psychiatric patients attending Psychiatry OPD in a tertiary care centre in Western India.…”