Международный журнал нейрореабилитации

A Cultural View on Mental Health through the Fact of Migration

Abstract

Mahire olcay Çam and Merve Uguryol

Culture is a structure that constitutes individual’s world of symbols, values and meaning. Emotions, thoughts and behavioral patterns of an individual are shaped within this structure. These patterns shaped by the culture, influence the mental health of an individual both positively and negatively. Globally intensified migration of the recent years has strongly triggered this influence. Cultural elements, on the one hand, pose a risk to mental health, but also on the other hand, they play a significant role in the recovery from a mental illness. What are important to identify are the risk factors of the culture and to incorporate the positive aspects of culture in health care in the recovery process. We think that health services and treatment will be much more effective if each health professional that touches the life of a mentally disordered will provide health care with a cultural perspective. In this article we focus on the fact of migration while investigating and giving an overview on the interaction of culture with health, disease and the process of recovery.