[ Clinical

Schizophrenic delusions show cultural differences

TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) - Researchers in Japan and in Europe found similar percentages of negative and positive delusions among schizophrenic inpatients in three cities but cultural differences in the content of their negative delusions.

Dr. Masato Tateyama at Tokyo Metropolitan College of Allied Medical Sciences and colleagues in Japan, Austria and Germany, compared the schizophrenic delusions, based on medical records, of 324 inpatients in Tokyo, 101 in Vienna, and 150 in Tubingen, Germany. The researchers report in Psychopathology that at the three sites, about 80% of the patients had "negative" delusions (injury and/or belittlement) and about 25% had "positive" delusions of grandeur.

The researchers found transcultural influences in the contents of the
"negative" delusions. Specific and direct themes of persecutory delusion.
Delusions of poisoning and religious themes of guilt or sin appeared in
Europe. Amorphous delusions, such as "being slandered," appeared in Japan.
The latter may derive from the group-oriented self in Japanese "shame
culture," Dr. Tateyama's team believes.

The researchers observe that "[t]he contents of delusion are the mirror of
times and the world, because they reflect social and cultural changes.
However, it is also true that there are certain delusional experiences
unrelated to such changes and common to schizophrenic patients from
different backgrounds. Transcultural studies can define universal delusional experiences among schizophrenic patients, highlighting the contrast between delusions under sociocultural influences and those practically devoid of such influences."

Psychopathology 1998;31:59-68.

by Sandra Katzman