Social Self As Part Of Depression

Do you think that your culture impacts your decisions more than your personal opinion does? Or maybe that your culture has nothing to do with your viewpoint? There is a lot of controversy on this topic. A person 's culture majorly affects how one views the world, however personal opinion, experiences also play a role. Personal experiences help to shape people into who they are today.

In Communications Between Cultures individualism and collectivism are described by researchers as “self-orientation versus collective orientation as one of the basic pattern variables that determine human action.” These differences can be found in family life, school, and workplace

Culture incorporates many different aspects of life such as religion, food, language, ethnicity, and many more. All of these aspects influence the way a person lives and acts. Although culture provides a positive influence by bestowing self worth, it could also negatively affect someone’s life. Culture affects a person in many ways by creating internal and external conflict, which influences the way others view them and therefore affects their actions and how they feel about themselves.

Culture plays a paramount role in our lives. “It is what shapes who we are and how we view the world” (Thorp & Sanchez, 1998,

The culture in which we were raised in has a big impact on who we are and how we behave. Our culture effects things such as how we dress, the way we interact with others, and our manners such as what we may or may not find funny or what we may find offensive or weird. In the Ethan Watters Article “Being WEIRD: How Culture Shapes the Mind” we see examples of how being raised in different cultures affects our decisions and the way we perceive things. For example, in the ultimatum game (which is played by giving the first player $100 dollars, he can then offer player 2 any amount of the $100 but if the second player rejects the money they both end up with nothing) we can see how differently Machiguengans and Americans were likely to play. We

According to the World Mental Health Survey Initiative (2011), woman in the United States are six times more likely than a man in China to have experienced a depressive episode. The report concluded that

Demographic attributes and psychopathology might add to self-destructive conduct, yet practices can likewise be impacted by interpersonal connections in particular settings (e.g., family) and more extensive social settings (e.g., working environments and neighborhoods). Dangerous variables for suicide might be ethnically remarkable relying upon social qualities, convictions, and standards. In this manner, a more profound comprehension of suicide in Asian Americans past demographics and psychopathology is crucial. Many Asian Americans do not ask for help, as it is looked on as “weak” in their society. Asian Americans are less likely to publically acknowledge their personal and/or psychological problems. They are also less likely to rely on any sort of mental health services. Instead, many are more likely to rely on culturally acceptable traditions of discipline and family order as a way to solve their underlying mental issues, such as depression (Lam, 2014).Journalist, Katherine Kam reported that “Family conflicts and academic failure loom large, but some have a family history of depression, which might make them genetically vulnerable.” She also states that “it doesn’t help that Asian parents, more than other groups, often reject professional diagnoses of their children’s depression and mental health. They fear that any mental problems will reflect badly on their son or daughter, as well as tarnish their entire lineage” (Lam, 2014). Many immigrants come from countries where mental illness is considered a low priority in the health care world. Treatments for mental health issues in many of these countries are nonexistent, and they believe people should over-come their problems on their own, through self-discipline and their own will power (Lam, 2014). When Asian Americans fall into illnesses such as depression, they are more likely to neglect and

In Ethan Watters’ essay, “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan,” he has a discussion with Dr. Laurence Kirmayer regarding Kirmayer’s invitation to the International Consensus Group on Depression and Anxiety. In their discussion, Kirmayer talks about how the basis of his invitation was on the notion that he as the director of the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill could add to the answer the large pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline was looking for. The question at hand was how culture influences an illness experience, but more specifically how depression is influenced by culture in Japan. A similar notion of influence can be seen in Karen Ho’s essay, “Biographies of Hegemony”, in which the idea of being a part

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” (C.S. Lewis) Though culture does shape one's life, one's view of the world depends on how they interpret their culture.

Culture affects the way many people put things into perspective. They see the world in different ways which is based on how society is raised, making us oblivious to our surroundings. They influence how we see ourselves and others (identities) and how we make meaning of our lives and relationships. Writers such as Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco, explain the meaning of cultural identity. Meanwhile, Amy Tan writes a story about her mother wanting her to be with someone else based on culture and ethnicity. As a nation, there will always be judgements. This is why culture does affect how you see the world or others.

Sometimes I question if culture changes who you are. I try to pull up memories of the decisions I make, are they affected by my culture? Here is the response I came up with: Culture sporadically informs how an individual sees the world because, even being from completely different places and raised in contrasting households, people could still have similar views based on what they think of others and not how you are constructed with your culture, however, sometimes affects your perspective in certain occasions in circumstances where you wouldn’t face a community the same if you weren’t from the culture you were built in. This idea is supported by the personal essay by Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America, the essay by Robert Lake, An Indians Father Plea, and also personal experience.

The attitude, values, ideals and beliefs of individuals are greatly influenced by the culture in which they live. Precisely, culture is the sum total of the ways of life of people in a particular society.

In my autobiography, I went into detail about being biracial, open-minded, and depressed. I did mention other traits, for instance being Buddhist, low-middle class, and being nineteen years of age. I just focused more on the first three because I think they all went hand in hand. Being biracial means I am combination of two different races. I used to hate being mixed and sometimes I still do, but having this physical trait has helped me be more compassionate towards others who are different. I always feel out of place when I’m with certain groups of people. Sometimes they’ll make sure to mention that I’m different than the rest of them. I think being biracial has helped me become open-minded but is also a cause of my depression.

Fundamental beliefs surrounding the very idea of culture separate the cross-cultural and sociocultural approach, which may seem to suggest incompatibility. Sociocultural psychological understanding of culture is that it employs a “mutually constitutive” or “cyclic model”. (Eom & Kim, 2014) The idea of culture in the sociocultural model is that culture influences people on a

The symptoms of mental disorders are found in all nations and in all cultures; there are recognizable symptoms that are common worldwide. Mental health researchers have not yet been able to determine whether culture bound syndromes are indicative of one or more possibilities that include distinct disorders that exist only in specific cultures, and reflect different ways in which individuals from different cultures express mental illness, as well as reflecting different ways in which the social and cultural environment interact with genes to produce disorders, or any combination of these. (pp. 101)