Week 6 - Chouatong Mouavangsou - A02

ASA 002 Week 6

In, The Americanization of Mental Illness, by Ethan Watters, we find that the notion of “Universal Knowledge,” which is essentially western knowledge, overtakes other spheres of knowledge. Watters shows us this through the “Americanization” of mental illnesses in which cultural knowledge of an illness becomes useless when compared to a Western knowledge of mental illnesses. He begins with telling us a study in which Dr. Sing Lee performed in Hong Kong. The doctor was studying a rare and culturally form of anorexia nervosa due to his most of his patients almost never intentionally dieting. However, when a teenage girl in Hong Kong passed away, the news and local reporters, instead of looking at the cultural aspects as to why she passed away, they relied on the American diagnostic manuals to describe her case. By doing so, this case not only obscured the understanding of anorexia in Hong Kong, it may have changed the actual illness itself in her case.

Watters uses this example to bring to light how western knowledge of mental illnesses has gained dominance whereas cultural knowledge of mental illnesses has been almost discarded. This applies not only to mental illnesses, but rather scientific knowledge about almost everything in the world. All knowledge is slowly becoming more Western knowledge and other forms of knowledge are becoming less credible. It’s interesting to see how Watters doesn’t specifically mention that, however, one can see how he does imply that change through focusing on the knowledge of mental illnesses.

Question: How do we create an inclusive practice of care, in the field of medicine, in which the western forms of medication does not overtake the cultural forms of medication?

Reference:

1. Keast V. (n.d.). EFTadvantage. Retrieved May 07, 2017, from http://eftadvantage.com.au/eftadvantage-shifting-paradigms.php

2. Watters, E. (2010, January 09). The Americanization of Mental Illness. Retrieved May 07, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html