Ethnomedicine or Ending the Depression Cycle

Ethnomedicine

Author: Pamela I Erickson

"People throughout time and place, no matter their belief system, have sought to discover causes and cures for illness and disease. Among Westerners is a groundswell to augment biomedicine with holistic practices inherent in ethnomedicines of non-Western traditions. Yet missing are awareness and knowledge of the foundations and outgrowth of these alternative concepts." Erickson fills this gap by clearly explaining the basic organizing principles that underlie all medical systems, the full range of theories of disease causation, the geographical distribution of medical practices, and the historical trends that led to biomedical dominance. Her efficient, balanced approach highlights commonalities among the world's vast and diverse medical systems, making ethnomedicine easier to internalize and to apply in clinical settings.

Table of Contents:

1 What Is Ethnomedicine? 1

Anthropology and Ethnomedicine 2

Medical Systems 5

Health: Disease and Curing, Illness and Healing 9

Conclusion 10

2 Historical Origins of Medical Systems 13

Medical Systems and Subsistence Strategies 15

The Great Historical Medical Traditions 21

Comparison of the Great Medical Traditions 27

Conclusion 33

3 What Causes Disease? Theories of Disease Causation 35

Personalistic and Naturalistic Disease Causation 39

Common Theories of Disease Causation in Nonbiomedical Systems 42

Conclusion 56

4 The Geography of Disease Causation Theories 59

Theories of Disease/Illness Causation in the Ethnographic Past 60

Contemporary Trends in Theories of Disease Causation 65

The Culture-Bound Syndromes 92

Conclusion 94

5 The Healing Lessons of Ethnomedicine 99

What Do Ethnomedicines Tell Us? 99

What Do the Ethnomedicine Lessons Mean for Cultural Competence in Biomedical Care? 104

The Future of Ethnomedicines 107

References 109

Index 121

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Ending the Depression Cycle

Author: Peter J Bieling

Experts report that 17 million people in the us suffer from clinical depression; 50% of the people who recover will relapse within three years. This is the first book to address the problem of depression relapse. And has the most up-to-date, step-by-step strategies for preventing relapse by a leading researcher

Most books on this disorder focus on crisis control during the acute phase of mild and severe depression. This book deals instead with the period after recovery when as many as half of those who have defeated depression will suffer relapse. Learn about the repeating cycle of depression. Then, with self-assessment tools and engaging exercises, understand the stage you are dealing with. Find practical advice about clinical options, including anti-depressant medication and continuing psychotherapy. Take away everyday strategies for thinking realistically, having fun, and being physically well.

About the Authors:
Peter j. Bieling, Ph.D., is the operational service manager and a practicing psychologist at the mood, anxiety, and women's health concerns clinic at st. Joseph's hospital in hamilton, ontario. He is also assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at mcmaster university in Hamilton, Ontario.

Martin M. Antony, Ph.D., is the chief psychologist and director of the Anxiety Treatment Research Center at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. An associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at McMasters University in Hamilton, he is also the author of eight books including The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook.

Aaron T. Beck, MD, is currently university professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1959 he has directed funded research investigations of the psychopathology of depression, suicide, anxiety disorders, panic disorders, alcoholism, drug abuse, and personality disorders, and of cognitive therapy of these disorders. He has published over 375 articles and fourteen books. Dr. Beck's lifetime work has been honored by numerous awards, including the prestigious National Institute of Mental Health: Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award in 1991, and the Joseph Zubin Award for Distinguished Contributions in Psychopathology by the Society for Research in Psychopathology.