A review of cultural and historical accounts of anorexia nervosa indicates that this disorder is found primarily in Westernized societies during periods of relative affluence and greater social opportunities for women. Some hypotheses regarding the vulnerability to eating disorders are proposed to the basis of these data.

Courts in the United States do not recognize a formal “cultural defense” for criminal acts committed by defendants belonging to other cultures. This means that courts ostensibly do not take foreign cultural practices, customs, or beliefs into account in evaluating the guilt of individuals who break U.S. laws. Nonetheless, courts have repeatedly permitted cultural evidence to be introduced as an...

BACKGROUND Disorders of sexual development (DSD) are congenital conditions in which the development of the chromosomal, gonadal or anatomical sex can be deemed atypical. The external genitalia should appear 'normal' in size and shape from birth, with no question of abnormality, and the individual must receive appropriate social-environmental feedback in the course of the sexual maturation proce...

Associate Professor Yael Latzer, DSc, Associate Professor Daniel Stein, MD and Professor Joav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc Director, Institute for the Treatment and Study of Eating Disorders, Division of Psychiatry, Rambam, Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel. affiliated with the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Siences, Haifa University, Israel. Email:[email protected] Director, Pediatric Ps...

BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between sociocultural factors and clinical eating disorders during the intensive process of Westernisation in Poland that occurred after 1989. The study population included girls diagnosed with an eating disorder according to DSM-IV criteria (n = 47 anorexia nervosa restrictive type [ANR], n = 16 anorexia binge/purge type [ANBP], ...

Traditional techniques used to produce relaxation can promote and maintain wellbeing in healthy individuals too. They can prevent illnesses including minor mental health disorders from developing in those faced with psychosocial problems by countering stress, states of tension and improving coping capacities. Further, they can cure a variety of minor mental health disorders that have already de...

Cross-cultural studies have much to teach clinicians and researchers alike about psychopathology in general and about social anxiety disorder (SAD) in particular. Unfortunately, little is known about the degree and the mechanisms through which cultural environment may influence clinical manifestations of SAD. Objective: Our objective was to identify culture-related clinical patterns in SAD and ...

Cultural and regional differences on the well-known elevated suicide risk in substance use disorders have not been clarified yet. Therefore, the suicide risk associated with substance use disorders in a society of transition and in a socially and economically stable society should be identified and compared. Data from two population-based matched case-control studies were used to analyse the as...

Cross-cultural factors are important in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). In the setting of FGIDs, the aims of this review were to: 1) engender interest in global aspects; 2) gain a clearer understanding of culture, race and ethnicity and their effect on patient care and research; 3) facilitate cross-cultural clinical and research competency; and 4) improve and foster the quality a...