The reading by Ethan
Watters about the Americanization of mental illness really sheds light on how
other countries put forth American research over their own country's. This really showed in the text's example of
work done by Dr. Sing Lee in Hong Kong. It was interesting how he had patients
who seemed to have a specific form of anorexia nervosa that was only seen with
his patients in that area, yet their symptoms were quit different from the
American version of that disorder. I do believe that different regions/areas
will have different symptoms/disorders.
In the case of Dr. Lee's patients, many of his patients shared a similar
symptom of not expressing fear of becoming fat and also having bloated
stomachs. After an incident where an anorexic girl fainted and died on the
street, newspaper went with information about anorexia from American studies
and sites. After that, more women went to Dr. Lee with symptoms that matched up
to the American idea of this mental illness. This example really shows how much
influence America has on mental illness across the world. American culture is
very different from culture in Hong Kong, for example. Dr. Lee's patients did
not show signs of fear of being fat, but after that girl passed away, more
patients said fat phobia was the most important reason for starving themselves.
This Americanization of anorexia brought upon symptoms that patients didn't
even have prior to the incident. This just goes on to show how highly people
see American studies and research, going so far as to use it to explain mental
illness in other countries when they are totally different.
Question: What other
factors (other than culture) could explain the difference in viewpoints of
mental illnesses?
References:
Correll, G. (2014).
[Digital image]. Retrieved from http://i0.wp.com/www.abbeylake.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Body-Shapes.png?resize=760%2C510
Watters, E. (2010,
January 10). The Americanization of Mental Illness. The New York Times.
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