Westernization of Mental Health

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Westernization of Mental Health
A multifaceted approach is recommended for any western organization seeking to promote mental health awareness worldwide. This approach is based on the understanding that western narratives and ideas surrounding mental health should not be imposed on other cultures while their own culture is diffused away. Foreign psychology aid should be aware of thriving psychological health systems because every culture is unique. Therefore, organizations need to avoid spreading the western narratives as the only permissible ways of explaining causes, a manifestation of distress, and spread the high-popularized western narrative to other cultures with little regard for their traditional healing and methods of dealing with distress. Psychological distress is not a new phenomenon in society and has been solved by interpreting personal and autonomous people within the same culture for decades. The genesis to implementation of self-regulators to inhibit cultural acculturation and assimilation to western ideas while discrediting traditional narratives of distress includes various aspects that should be widely recognized.
Culture is the preferred way of life of particular people and how they interpret experiences and how distress is manifested, caused, and treated. The high-winded scientific ideas are just a singular approach to this phenomenon. (Watters 2010, 73) In this light, administering the western approach to a new culture is similar to introducing a new concept of thinking in an already established system with its socio-cultural structure. Moreover, organizations spreading mental health awareness should stop evangelizing the highly popularized mental narratives as they could potentially be "ineffective or even harmful" (Watter 2010, 73). For example, when countries seek western help during wars or calamities because the traditional narratives and healing practices have been compromised brings and gains pity from the powerful West, belittling of their practices becomes the norm(Watters 2010, 84).
Consequently, eroding the traditional cultural narratives of distress weakens their national spirit, independence, and persistence to overcome the natural calamities without intervention from the West. A classic example is a massive post-traumatic effect experienced after the massive tragedy in Srilankans. Western organizations undermined the capacity and experience of the local population to use their traditional healing practices to rebuild and recover when they "had evolved a culture better able to integrate and give meaning to terrible events" (Watters, 72). Although the message of traditional narratives of distress is subtle and inferior among the Westerners, many trauma experts responded to the tragedy in Sri Lanka "to simply ignore or discount the cultural traditions, beliefs, and rituals that Sri Lankans had long relied on." ( Watter 2010)). Thus, psychology organizations should limit intrusion, denial of traditional approaches to tragedies, calamities, and war regardles...