ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to ‘Psychiatry, Culture, and Society’. The chapter starts with an anonymised clinical case history that demonstrates the socially embedded nature of the lived experience of mental illness, with particular emphasis on culture, before exploring the relationship between psychiatry and culture, including public expectations of psychiatry, especially in terms of ‘risk management’. This chapter explores professionalism in psychiatry and misuse of psychiatric diagnoses, practices, treatments, and institutions, both in history and today. There is a particular focus on cultural psychiatry and issues related to discrimination, including sexism, racism, and LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual) issues, as well as ways to improve matters. Key steps include teaching and modelling professionalism within psychiatry; deepening awareness of cultural factors; addressing sexism, racism, and discrimination; and realising psychiatry's potential to act as a vehicle for empowerment, especially for people who experience several kinds of discrimination and marginalisation at the same time.
