Clinical conceptions of mental illness also overlap with cultural values and in the realm of morality and social behavior. So much so in fact, that it is sometimes argued that separating the two would be impossible without fundamentally redefining a person's role in society. In clinical psychiatry, persistent distress and disability indicate an internal disorder requiring treatment; but in another context, that same distess and disability can be seen as an indicator of emotional struggle and the need to address social and structural problems. This dichotomy has lead some academics and clinicians to advocate a postmodernist conceptualization of mental distress and well-being. Such approaches, along with cross-cultural and "heretical" psychologies centered on alternative cultural and ethnic identities and experiences stand in contrast to the mainstream psychiatric community's active avoidance of any involvement with either morality or culture.
Within the mental health community, the question of how to address the psycho-social interaction is an often contentious one. In recent years, some psychiatrists and psychologists have argued that current diagnostic standards tend to overstate or misinterpret neurophysiological findings and to understate the scientific importance of social-psychological variables. Advocating a more culturally sensitive approach to psychology, critics such as Carl Bell and Marcello Maviglia contend that the cultural and ethnic diversity of individuals is often discounted by researchers and service providers In addition, current diagnostic guidelines have been criticized as having a fundamentally Euro-American outlook. Although these guidelines have been widely implemented, opponents argue that even when a diagnostic criteria set is accepted across different cultures, it does not necessarily indicate that the underlying constructs have any validity within those cultures; even reliable application can only prove consistency, not legitimacy.
Within the mental health community, the question of how to address the psycho-social interaction is an often contentious one. In recent years, some psychiatrists and psychologists have argued that current diagnostic standards tend to overstate or misinterpret neurophysiological findings and to understate the scientific importance of social-psychological variables. Advocating a more culturally sensitive approach to psychology, critics such as Carl Bell and Marcello Maviglia contend that the cultural and ethnic diversity of individuals is often discounted by researchers and service providers In addition, current diagnostic guidelines have been criticized as having a fundamentally Euro-American outlook. Although these guidelines have been widely implemented, opponents argue that even when a diagnostic criteria set is accepted across different cultures, it does not necessarily indicate that the underlying constructs have any validity within those cultures; even reliable application can only prove consistency, not legitimacy.
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