Cultural Formulation Interview
Culture is the system of rules, knowledge, practices, and concepts of a particular society learned and taught to new generations. They are categorized into lifestyle, religion, family structure, and languages. Therefore, a multifactorial set of overlapping concepts govern our daily lives (Jarvis et al., 2020). The CFI is a tool designed by clinicians and psychiatrists to develop and improve culturally sensitive diagnoses by diverting the clinical approach to focus on the client’s understanding and social context. It has facilitated effective care delivery among patients of different cultural backgrounds.
In this case, the student has been diagnosed with acute adjustment disorder with mild anxiety in the case study. To clinically determine the condition, the CFI is an essential tool. The assessment and history-taking process identified that the client had had the disease for less than six months. The first question is structured as open-ended, and it allows the student to explain fully (Jarvis et al., 2020). As per the tool, the student has to describe their relationship with others and how he asks for them, especially when he is sick. For acute anxiety, the student may not have challenges talking with people; however, he is only open to a few people.
As students, what troubles them most in such conditions is their academic performance. In most cases, as per the CFI, the condition can be caused by social issues such as the feeling of loneliness in school and guilt feelings due to poor performance. As per the CFI, the student explains the factors that can aid in managing the situation. As such, they include support from friends and family (Paralikar et al., 2020). However, some issues, such as financial constraints, poor relationships with friends, and poor scores in school, can make the condition worse. CFI analyses the cultural background and its effects on the diagnosis to interpret the social context of the student.
Cultural Impact On DSM-5 Diagnosis
Cultural and social backgrounds play a significant role in mental conditions such as anxiety disorders. Culture therefore incorporated into the clinical setup a change in structure, evaluation approaches, diagnostic modalities, scope, and the definition of the disorder (Paralikar et al., 2020). The process of sourcing and analyzing information about symptoms and behaviors relies on the patient’s cultural and social understanding. For such reasons, cultural factors significantly impact the provision of DSM-5 diagnosis.
Such impacts include the meanings people give to various illnesses. Depending on the cultural understanding, clients will categorize conditions differently, either as natural or intangible or as those warranting sympathy or scrutiny. Social norms and beliefs play a crucial role in motivating or demotivating the client to seek medical attention and compliance with the treatment regime (Paralikar et al., 2020). Depending on the cultural status ascribed to in society, the client’s ability to share thoughts will be affected. For instance, when men are presumed to be too strong, they will fail to seek any emotional or psychological support when the need arises. The situation may worsen when one fails to handle themselves, leading to suicide.
Culture also affects how clients describe their symptoms to the medical personnel during patient history taking. For example, in the case study, a student of an Asian culture exclusively explains their physical symptoms but has challenges in explaining the emotional symptoms. Such a case significantly impacts the diagnosis and the choice of treatment plan. Coping strategies used in managing DMS-5 conditions are also influenced by cultural background.
References
Jarvis, G. E., Kirmayer, L. J., Gómez-Carrillo, A., Aggarwal, N. K., & Lewis-Fernández, R. (2020). Update on the cultural formulation interview. Focus, 18(1), 40-46. Web.
Paralikar, V. P., Deshmukh, A., & Weiss, M. G. (2020). Qualitative analysis of Cultural Formulation Interview: Findings and implications for revising the Outline for Cultural Formulation. Transcultural Psychiatry, 57(4), 525-541. Web.