Cross-Cultural Challenges in the Diagnosis of Depression

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
M. Schouler-Ocak ◽  
M. Aichberger ◽  
M. Rapp ◽  
A. Heinz

For a long time it was assumed that depressive disorders were a classic western problem specific to industrial states. However, the World Bank discovered in a study as early as 1993 that depression in Third World countries was already fifth on the list of illnesses which comprise the largest contribution to the Global Burden of Disease. Affective and behavioural disorders as well as somatic complaints represent the three central categories of symptoms in depression. In western cultures an affective disorder is seen as the main characteristic of a depression, whereas in other cultures different symptoms can be in the foreground. The increase in supraregional communication and cooperation as well as the worldwide increase in immigrant populations demand that cultural aspects are considered in the diagnosis and treatment of depression. Physicians need to consider the cultural background of their patients in order to achieve an optimal therapy. If the sociocultural aspects, which cannot always be fully appreciated, of a culturally sensitive diagnosis are not taken into consideration, this can lead to an artificial prevalence of the disorder by making false diagnoses. In order to minimize these mistakes, the guideline for judging cultural influencing factors should be used to complete the diagnosis.Not only the development of culturally adequate therapy concepts and institutions, but also the expansion of knowledge about the psychopathology and epidemiolgy of psychic disorders, e. g. of depression in immigrant groups and the examination of their use of treatment facilities, are the goals of cross-cultural psychiatry and psychotherapy.

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (S2) ◽  
pp. 124s-124s
Author(s):  
S. Douki ◽  
K. Tabbane ◽  
M.J. Taktak

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mousa

PurposeThrough a multiple case study design, this article elaborates the chances of initiating and/or implementing responsible management education (RME) in Egyptian public business schools after the identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In other words, this paper identifies the effect of COVID-19 on internalizing RME in the previously mentioned context.Design/methodology/approachThrough addressing four business schools in Egypt, this article explores the future of public business schools that did not previously implement responsible management education (RME) principles, after the identification of COVID-19. In other words, this paper identifies the main threats facing public business schools in Egypt post the spread of COVID-19.FindingsAlthough the previous study done by Mousa et al. (2019a) showed that academics in public business schools in Egypt were not ready to implement responsible management education, and furthermore, that they thought that addressing socio-cultural aspects is the mission of professors in sociology and humanities, the results of this study show that the spread of COVID-19 has positively changed the situation. The interviewed academics assert that socio-cultural challenges shape the minds of business students, academics and trainers, and these accordingly, have to be tackled. Furthermore, the author explores some socio-political, academic and labour market threats facing business schools in Egypt today. Managing those threats may ensure the continuity of the addressed business schools and their counterparts.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by filling a gap in the literature on responsible management education and leadership in the higher education sector, in which empirical studies on the future of business schools, particularly those that did not implement responsible management education earlier, after the identification and spread of COVID-19 have been limited until now.


Author(s):  
В.Я. Кофман

Пандемия СOVID-19, объявленная ВОЗ чрезвычайной ситуацией в области здравоохранения, вызвана новым коронавирусом SARS-CoV-2. По сообщениям из Евросоюза, США и Австралии, потенциальная выживаемость коронавируса SARS-CoV-2 в фекалиях и сточных водах в течение достаточно длительного времени создает реальную возможность его поступления с канализационными стоками на очистные сооружения или непосредственно в поверхностные воды при сбросе неочищенных стоков. Это свидетельствует о существовании потенциальной возможности передачи SARS-CoV-2 через воду. В этой связи особую актуальность приобретает разработка эффективных способов удаления и инактивации вирусов на очистных сооружениях. Наличие коронавирусной инфекции в сточных водах может представлять серьезную опасность для здоровья контактирующих с ними людей. К ним относится персонал очистных сооружений, а также население в целом, которое может подвергаться непосредственному воздействию необработанных или недостаточно обработанных сточных вод через неисправные водопроводные или канализационные коммуникации. Во многих странах для получения своевременной достоверной информации о распространении коронавирусной инфекции используют методы эпидемиологии сточных вод. Возможность выявления РНК вируса в сточных водах даже при низкой распространенности СOVID-19 и корреляция между концентрацией РНК SARS-CoV-2 в сточных водах и официальной информацией указывают на то, что наблюдение за сточными водами может стать чувствительным инструментом мониторинга циркуляции вируса в популяции. The COVID-19 pandemic, declared by WHO as a health emergency, is caused by a novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. According to reports from the European Union, the United States and Australia, the potential survival of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in feces and wastewater for a sufficiently long time creates a real threat of its entry with wastewater into treatment facilities or directly into surface water while raw wastewater is discharged. This indicates the potential for the transfer of SARS-CoV-2 by water. In this regard, the development of effective methods for the removal and inactivation of viruses at the treatment facilities is of special actuality. The presence of coronavirus infection in wastewater can pose a serious health hazard to people in contact with it. These include the personnel at the wastewater treatment facilities, as well as the general population, who may be directly exposed to raw or inadequately treated wastewater through defective water or sewer systems. In many countries wastewater epidemiology methods are used to obtain timely reliable information on the spread of coronavirus infection. Possible detection of RNA virus in wastewater even with a low prevalence rate of COVID-19 and the correlation between the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and official information indicate that monitoring wastewater can become a sensitive tool for monitoring the circulation of the virus in the population.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-497
Author(s):  
Cun Zhang

Abstract Economic globalization has resulted in more frequent trading frictions, some of which have escalated into trade wars such as the one between China and the US. Drawing on the same corpus built by Zhang and Forceville (Zhang, Cun & Charles Forceville. 2020. Metaphor and metonymy in Chinese and American political cartoons (2018–2019) about the Sino–US trade conflict. Pragmatics and Cognition 27(2). 476–501), and complementing insights of that paper, this paper investigates how the Sino–US trade war is metaphorically and metonymically constructed in 129 Chinese and American political cartoons respectively from a synthesized perspective. Based on comparative analyses, cross-cultural similarity and uniqueness in the semiotic, cognitive, and cultural aspects can be concluded as follows: (a) at the expression level, the shared dominant mode configuration pattern of metaphor and metonymy requires extra-textual knowledge to identify the target domain/concept while the source domain/vehicle concept is pinpointed through pictorial resources; (b) at the cognition level, “us” and “them” are distinctively evaluated by using the metonymy BODILY REACTION FOR EMOTION, cultural symbols, and the Great Chain metaphor. The Chinese cartoons converge on disapproving of “them” while the American cartoons converge on disapproving of “us” and diverge on conceptualizing “them”; (c) a variety of cross-cultural default scenarios are employed in the Chinese cartoons whereas the American cartoons utilize non-default scenarios influenced by only American cultures. Both aim for persuasiveness by employing emotionally charged source domains/vehicle concepts, but to different audiences.


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