The nurse assesses a client who recently immigrated to the United States from Haiti. The client reports upset stomach and diarrhea. He explains that a witch doctor put a curse on him and that he sometimes sees evil spirits around him
The most accurate way to describe this type of illness would be as a:
A) Mental illness
B) Gastrointestinal disorder
C) Culture-bound syndrome
D) Hypochondria
Ans: C
Feedback:
Mental health and, conversely, mental illness are concepts bound by culture. Understanding of what connotes mental health is shaped by social norms that evolve from generation to generation. In Western cultures, medical science interprets any deviation from normative function of the five senses as indicative of a psychotic disorder. Hearing a voice, claiming to see an object, or having certain tactile sensations is viewed as a pathological state to be treated by psychiatric professionals. In some parts of the world, spiritual possession and belief in healers with special powers are culture-bound syndromes. Although gastrointestinal symptoms are involved in this client's condition, he suffers from more than just a gastrointestinal disorder. Hypochondria, or a condition in which one imagines that he or she has an illness but really does not, would not be applicable because the client has real symptoms and comes from a culture in which his illness is acknowledged as such.
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