Some issues in the diagnosis of depression in China.

Abstract

In China, the diagnosis of depression is made much less frequently than in the West, likely because there is a somewhat lower prevalence rate and because of other factors related to culture and to the development of Chinese psychiatry. Some of the relevant factors are: 1) depressed patients often avoid seeking help because of the stigma of mental disorder; 2) many patients seek help from practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine; 3) depression is often diagnosed as schizophrenia because of diagnostic criteria that are broader for schizophrenia and narrower for affective disorder than in the West; and 4) somatization is more frequent in China and many depressives receive the label "neurasthenia".

• Authors: J M Xu
• Journal: Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie (Can J Psychiatry) Vol. 32 Issue 5 Pg. 368-70 (Jun 1987) ISSN: 0706-7437 [Print] United States
• PMID: 3651979 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Topics

• China
• Cross-Cultural Comparison
• Depressive Disorder (diagnosis, therapy)
• Humans
• Medicine, Chinese Traditional
• Referral and Consultation
• Schizophrenia (diagnosis)