Durst R, Minuchin-Itzigsohn S, Jabotinsky-Rubin K
Talbieh Mental Health Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 1993;30(4):223-32.
All cultures have a cognitive map characterizing their people and comprising a framework of orientation values, knowledge, beliefs, and verbal and nonverbal language. In countries such as Israel, where the population constantly varies due to immigration, the cultural framework continuously shifts as it adapts itself to transculturation. The cultural clash is more conspicuous in the field of health where the therapeutic encounter emphasizes the differences between the therapist and the patient. We present a patient who showed a clinical picture of "brain-fag." Ethiopians refer to the brain-fag syndrome as "overworking of the head" due to the strain of studying. Prince, who first described the syndrome in Nigerian students and characterized its symptoms, emphasized that it stems from a cultural clash between African and Western civilizations. Immigration and acculturation, which Ethiopian Jews face, force them to neglect their social and cultural customs and duties or to synthesize them with the new cultural values. A classification of the different types of suicide attempts according to Durkheim (altruistic, anomic & egoistic) and Hollan (indignant) as well as a description of mourning rites and customs of Ethiopian Jewry, and discussion of the brain-fag syndrome unknown to the local mental health system are presented by means of a case illustration. Understanding the phases of ethnic group rituals and clinical syndromes, such as brain-fag, can smooth the absorption process of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, throw light on difficulties immigrants encounter, and facilitate understanding by the absorbing society.
所有文化都有一个认知地图，用以刻画其人民，并包含一个由取向价值观、知识、信仰以及语言和非语言组成的框架。在以色列这样的国家，由于移民，人口不断变化，文化框架在适应跨文化交流的过程中也不断变化。文化冲突在健康领域更为明显，因为治疗过程强调治疗师与患者之间的差异。我们介绍一位表现出“脑力疲劳”临床症状的患者。埃塞俄比亚人将脑力疲劳综合征称为“头部过度劳累”，原因是学习压力。普林斯首次在尼日利亚学生中描述了该综合征并对其症状进行了界定，他强调这是非洲和西方文明之间文化冲突的结果。埃塞俄比亚犹太人所面临的移民和文化适应，迫使他们要么忽视自身的社会和文化习俗及责任，要么将其与新的文化价值观相融合。通过一个病例说明，呈现了根据涂尔干（利他型、失范型和利己型）和霍兰（愤怒型）对不同类型自杀未遂的分类，以及埃塞俄比亚犹太教的哀悼仪式和习俗，并讨论了当地心理健康系统所不了解的脑力疲劳综合征。了解诸如脑力疲劳等族群仪式和临床综合征的阶段，有助于埃塞俄比亚犹太人在以色列的融入过程更加顺利，揭示移民所遇到的困难，并促进接纳社会的理解。
