Bridging Psychiatric and Anthropological Approaches: The Case of “Nerves” in the United States

Abstract

Psychiatrists and anthropologists have taken distinct analytic approaches when confronted with differences between emic and etic models for distress: psychiatrists have translated folk models into diagnostic categories whereas anthropologists have emphasized culture-specific meanings of illness. The rift between psychiatric and anthropological research keeps "individual disease" and "culture" disconnected and thus hinders the study of interrelationships between mental health and culture. In this article we bridge psychiatric and anthropological approaches by using cultural models to explore the experience of nerves among 27 older primary care patients from Baltimore, Maryland. We suggest that cultural models of distress arise in response to personal experiences, and in turn, shape those experiences. Shifting research from a focus on comparing content of emic and etic concepts, to examining how these social realities and concepts are coconstructed, may resolve epistemological and ontological debates surrounding differences between emic and etic concepts, and improve understanding of the interrelationships between culture and health.

Social Pathways in the Comorbidity between Type 2 Diabetes and Mental Health Concerns in a Pilot Study of Urban Middle- and Upper-Class Indian Women

“…For instance, the question of duration remains (i.e., does tension refer to a passing feeling or a more long-term state?). Similar nonspecific categories such as ''nerves'' have been noted in U.S. populations (Dahlberg et al 2009); a cross-cultural comparison that considers ''tension'' not as an expression for a psychiatric condition but as a distinct category could be a fruitful future direction and is, in any case, an important step toward generating a locally derived understanding of mental health and illness.…”

“We can’t carry the weight of the whole world”: illness experiences among Peruvian older adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety

“…'Nervios' has been frequently described among Mexicans and other Hispanic countries [28,32]. The study of 'nervios' is extensive, and it has been suggested that it is a syndrome of chronic dysphoric mood with somatic complaints [33] whose origins are rooted in social problems [34]. Independently of the exact definitions, for some Peruvians older adults, 'nervios' were perceived as something that can be mitigated with anxiolytics.…”

"We can’t carry the weight of the whole world": Illness experiences among Peruvian older adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety

“…'Nervios' has been frequently described among Mexicans and other Hispanic countries (28,32). The study of 'nervios' is extensive, and it has been suggested that it is a syndrome of chronic dysphoric mood with somatic complaints (33) whose origins are rooted in social problems (34). Independently of the exact de nitions, for some Peruvians older adults, 'nervios' were perceived as something that can be mitigated with anxiolytics.…”