Prevalence of borderline personality disorder in immigrants in a psychiatric inpatient setting

Cross-cultural bias in the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is an internationally recognized disorder, although it is slightly varied in its nosology in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), and the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders (CCMD). While it is recognized by genetic and neurobiological patterns, instability of affect, impaired interpersonal relationships, and unstable sense of self, its manifestation is extremely varied based on environmental factors, particularly culture. Several studies of the manifestation of BPD between and across countries, particularly in immigrant populations, identify variations in symptom prevalence based on culture. These findings reveal a need for more unified dimensional-based categorization of BPD to reduce cross-cultural bias and improve identification.

From Kraepelin to a modern and integrative scientific discipline: the development of transcultural psychiatry in Germany

The roots of transcultural psychiatry in Germany can be traced back to Emil Kraepelin, who made the first culturally comparative observations on mental disorders in Southeast Asia at the start of the 20th century. Since the beginning of the 1970s, contributors to the literature of transcultural psychiatry in Germany have been predominantly concerned with the mental health of migrant workers from Mediterranean countries, particularly the practical difficulties and therapeutic implications of inpatient psychiatric treatment of these migrant groups. The inauguration of the Section on Transcultural Psychiatry of the German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 20 years ago reflected an increasing scientific interest in this topic. In addition to the psychic impact of migration, research into transcultural care is currently focused on disparities in the utilization of health care and conjectured barriers to access to health and mental health care among migrants. Furthermore, studies based on epidemiological approaches have been carried out in order to resolve the question of whether migrants are as affected by mental disorders as the ethnic German population, and which issues contribute to the so-called "healthy migrant" effect. Other topics that have been explored in the last 10 years are the particular psychosocial situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany, and the effects of inadequate integration and discrimination on their mental health. In summary, after a short historical and theoretical overview, this article reviews the current major themes in transcultural research in German contemporary psychiatry, and concludes with an overview of future developments in this field.