What anthropologist can teach psychotherapist.

One of her big ideas is anthropology is perfectly positioned to destigmatize mental health issues because anthropology makes sense of behavior given context and history. For example a cross cultural trigger for depression and suicide in women is being raped or forced into marriage — which is a form of rape. On the other side a universal trigger for depression and suicide in men is loss of status. Knowing this, suddenly tons of behaviors make sense. When 30% of middle class women have been sexually abused before age 18, no wonder so many women struggle with anxiety and depression. When we hear stories of some CEO committing suicide after losing his job or some impoverished kid attempting suicide by cop it makes sense. Both are suffering from a loss of status. The best part is these trends are true cross culturally. We’re not just talking about Western Industrial Rich Educated Democratic societies.

Much of this sounds like classic Marriage and Family Therapy Theory: at first glance. But the implications of her research leads us to another big idea. Too often we act as though the problem exist between the persons ears. Even the idea of “mental health” gives the idea that the issue is “mental”; but, people make sense in their context. It seems that we as a field need to structure therapy in a different way. If an individual comes into our office, there is an implicit assumption that the problem is inside of them. Just by doing therapy we reinforce that idea.

I asked her to summarize the problem. She said it all boils down to conflict and cooperation. People suffer because there is some relational conflict, say a daughter who’s mother died, and instead of her community rallying around her, there’s some sort of conflict where she is denied resources. The solution then is to help foster cooperation.

In conclusion my head is still spinning from our conversation. There are a ton of other things I wish she had said more about. Like the fact that many man seek status because it gives us access to sex, that people often marry their cousins, or the fact that many people who work on the DSM are highly critical of the DSM. So, if you’re like me and curious for more, follow her on twitter.

I’ll update this post when the interview releases.

Best.

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