Community psychiatry in Tutuila, American Samoa.
The author hypothesizes that the underreporting of mental illness in Tutuila, American Samoa, is a direct result of the social system, which provides a means of "curing" emotional disorder by family group process and shamanistic ritual, by making the disorder less disruptive, and by absolving the affected individual of personal guilt.
D000293:Adolescent; D002399:Catharsis; D003158:Community Psychiatry; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011114:Polynesia