Integrating neuroscience in psychiatry: a cultural-ecosocial systemic approach

Authors

Ana Gómez-Carrillo, Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. Electronic address: ana.gomez-carrillo@mcgill.ca.
Laurence J. Kirmayer, Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Neil Krishan Aggarwal, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
Kamaldeep S. Bhui, Department of Psychiatry, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Kenneth Po-Lun Fung, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Brandon A. Kohrt, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Mitchell G. Weiss, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Roberto Lewis-Fernández, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2-21-2023

Journal

The lancet. Psychiatry

DOI

10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00006-8

Abstract

Psychiatry has increasingly adopted explanations for psychopathology that are based on neurobiological reductionism. With the recognition of health disparities and the realisation that someone's postcode can be a better predictor of health outcomes than their genetic code, there are increasing efforts to ensure cultural and social-structural competence in psychiatric practice. Although neuroscientific and social-cultural approaches in psychiatry remain largely separate, they can be brought together in a multilevel explanatory framework to advance psychiatric theory, research, and practice. In this Personal View, we outline how a cultural-ecosocial systems approach to integrating neuroscience in psychiatry can promote social-contextual and systemic thinking for more clinically useful formulations and person-centred care.

APA Citation

Gómez-Carrillo, Ana; Kirmayer, Laurence J.; Aggarwal, Neil Krishan; Bhui, Kamaldeep S.; Fung, Kenneth Po-Lun; Kohrt, Brandon A.; Weiss, Mitchell G.; and Lewis-Fernández, Roberto, "Integrating neuroscience in psychiatry: a cultural-ecosocial systemic approach" (2023). GW Authored Works. Paper 2371.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/2371

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences