Crossroads: Identity struggles in Latin America and Latin American psychiatry. 2010

Renato D Alarcón, and Héctor Pérez-Rincón
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. alarcon.renato@mayo.edu

Identity can be defined from different perspectives such as those from philosophy, social sciences and phenomenology. The latter entails sameness, uniqueness, distinctiveness, continuity, diversity, universality and equality connotations to define characteristics of the existence and action of individuals, institutions, entities, organizations and collectivities. In order to elaborate on the identity of Latin American Psychiatry, this chapter deals first with the identity of the Latin American continent, the result of a 'collision of cultures' with mestizaje as its most prominent collective contribution. In turn, the Latin American population (and its 'Hispanic' equivalent in other countries and regions of the world) has been the subject of a pluralistic search, and played a combined role of hope and conflict, advances and setbacks in a fascinating historical process. In such context, Latin American psychiatry offers a mixed identity, resulting from a succession of mythic-religious, moral, phenomenologico-existential, biological and social/community-based routes. Each of them are assessed, and the contributions of two eponymous figures, Honorio Delgado and Gregorio Bermann, are duly delineated. Current realities in Latin American psychiatry and mental health in socio-political, conceptual, professional, ideological, academic and heuristic areas, are examined. The chapter ends with considerations of the future of psychiatry in the continent, the postulation of a 'new synthesis' embracing the essence of contemporary neurobiological knowledge and a new, revitalized humanism in the context of a healthy eclecticism, progressive educational training and didactic programmes, and concrete contributions embodying the promise of well justified expectations.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007843 Latin America The geographic area of Mexico, Central America, continent of South America and the islands of the Caribbean where Spanish or other Romance language is spoken.
D008603 Mental Health Emotional, psychological, and social well-being of an individual or group. Mental Hygiene,Health, Mental,Hygiene, Mental
D011570 Psychiatry The medical science that deals with the origin, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders.
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012931 Social Environment The aggregate of social and cultural institutions, forms, patterns, and processes that influence the life of an individual or community. Social Context,Environment, Social,Social Ecology,Context, Social,Contexts, Social,Ecologies, Social,Ecology, Social,Environments, Social,Social Contexts,Social Ecologies,Social Environments
D012933 Social Identification The process by which an aspect of self image is developed based on in-group preference or ethnocentrism and a perception of belonging to a social or cultural group. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.) Group Identification,Identification, Social,Professional Identification,Professional Identity Formation,Social Identity,Formation, Professional Identity,Formations, Professional Identity,Group Identifications,Identification, Group,Identification, Professional,Identifications, Group,Identifications, Professional,Identifications, Social,Identities, Social,Identity Formation, Professional,Identity Formations, Professional,Identity, Social,Professional Identifications,Professional Identity Formations,Social Identifications,Social Identities
D012945 Social Values Abstract standards or empirical variables in social life which are believed to be important and/or desirable. Value Orientation,Values, Social,Value Orientations

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