title: Culturally-sensitive complaints of depressions and anxieties in women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Current classifications of Mental Disorders are centered on Westernized concepts and constructs. "Cross-cultural sensitivity" emphasizes culturally-appropriate translations of symptoms and questions, assuming that concepts and constructs are applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Groups and individual psychiatrists from various cultures from Asia, Latin America, North Africa and Eastern Europe prepared descriptions of main symptoms and complaints of treatment-seeking women in their cultures, which are interpreted by clinicians as a manifestation of a clinically-relevant dysphoric disorder. They also transliterated the expressions of DSM IV criteria of main dysphoric disorders in their cultures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In many non-western cultures the symptoms and constructs that are interpreted and treated as dysphoric disorders are mostly somatic and are different from the Western-centered DSM or ICD systems. In many cases the DSM and ICD criteria of depression and anxieties are not even acknowledged by patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The descriptive approach reported here is a preliminary step which involved local but Westernized clinicians-investigators following a biomedical thinking. It should be followed by a more systematic-comprehensive surveys in each culture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Westernized concepts and constructs of mental order and disorders are not necessarily universally applicable. Culturally-sensitive phenomena, treatments and treatment responses may be diversified. Attempts at their cross-cultural harmonization should take into consideration complex interactional multi-dimensional processes.
authors.affiliation: Biobehavior Research, SUNY-University at Buffalo, NY 14214, USA. urielh@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: Uriel
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Halbreich
authors.forename: Renato D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Alarcon
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Calil
authors.forename: Saida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Douki
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaszner
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jadresic
authors.forename: Miroslava
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jasovic-Gasic
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kadri
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kerr-Correa
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Xarifa
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sarache
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Trivedi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003469:Culture; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology; D014177:Translations