Clinical relevance of contemporary cultural psychiatry

In recent years, the held of cultural psychiatry has gained recognition and accumulated evidence of its clinical relevance. This article examines the intersections of culture and psychopathology and describes five independent but interrelated clinical dimensions that identify and define culture as: a) an interpretive/explanatory tool, b) a pathogenic/pathoplastic agent, c) a diagnostic/nosological factor, d) a therapeutic/protective element, and e) a service/management instrument. Along these lines, conceptual boundarie s, clinical findings, specific applications, and research implications for each of the dye dimensions are systematically reviewed. Cultural psychiatry adds significantly to the comprehensiveness of psychiatric evaluation and management and addresses prominent issues regarding understanding, classifi cation, diagnosis, and competent treatment of most psychiatric disorders in every society and region of the world. Based on the strength of these clin ical dimensions, and on the related educational and research efforts, cultu ral psychiatry can also contribute decisively to the design of comprehensiv e mental health policies.