Mental health cannot be separated from cultural, social, and historical contexts. Across diverse societies, interpretations of psychological distress, its causes, and appropriate treatments vary widely. When these cultural perspectives intersect with biomedical frameworks like the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and ICD (International Classification of Diseases), tensions emerge, complicating efforts to establish a universal diagnostic language and raising ethical, clinical, and practical concerns.

Behaviors labeled as pathological in one culture may be seen as spiritual or moral in another. Among the Xhosa in South Africa, hearing voices can be understood as ancestral communication rather than a symptom of schizophrenia (Swartz, 1998). In Japan, taijin kyofusho is a culturally specific social anxiety disorder involving the fear of offending others, absent in Western nosology (Kirmayer & Minas, 2000). In Latin America, nervios describes general distress, such as headaches, irritability, and anxiety. At the same time, susto refers to the culturally specific belief that the soul departs the body after a frightening experience, often resulting in somatic and........

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