Psychological Medicine
- Psychological Medicine / Volume 10 / Issue 03 / August 1980, pp 471-482
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S003329170004736X (About DOI), Published online: 09 July 2009
Research Article
Traditionalism and mental health in the South Pacific: a re-examination of an old hypothesis
H. B. M. Murphya1 c1 and B. M. Taumoepeaua1
a1 Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; and Vaiola Hospital, Tonga
Abstract
Nineteenth-century theory held that mental disorder was rare in stable, traditional rural societies. Today most societies are rapidly changing, but Tonga still fits that model and the evidence suggests that the psychoses are genuinely infrequent there. It is proposed that both the theory and the evidence deserve further examination.
Correspondence:
c1 Address for correspondence: Professor H. B. M. Murphy, Department of Psychiatry, Section of Transcultural Psychiatric Studies, McGill University, 1266 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, PQ, Canada H3G 1A8.
