Recent decades have witnessed an increased interest in the cross-cultural study of mental disorders. This interest has manifested itself across a variety of disciplines and has served as an impetus for the development of a number of subdisciplinary specialties. Regardless of the different names which have been applied, the central concern of all of these specialties has been to illuminate the role of cultural factors in the etiology, expression, course, and outcome of mental disorders. From their success in achieving these purposes, it is clear that the cross-cultural study of mental disorders has contributed greatly to our understanding of the role of cultural factors in mental disorder. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss some of these contributions and, in the process, to call attention to the fact that all aspects of mental disorders are inextricably linked to the sociocultural milieu in which they are generated.
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