Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder

BackgroundPsychiatric patients may refer to concepts neither medically accepted nor easily understood to describe their experiences when seeking medical care. These concepts may lie outside the clinician’s cultural references and consequently hinder the diagnostic consultation. In the fifth version...

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Main Authors: Michael Ioannou, Sofia Olsson, Ane Bakken Wold, Marzia Dellepiane, Steinn Steingrímsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-09-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1148646/full
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author Michael Ioannou
Michael Ioannou
Sofia Olsson
Ane Bakken Wold
Marzia Dellepiane
Steinn Steingrímsson
Steinn Steingrímsson
author_facet Michael Ioannou
Michael Ioannou
Sofia Olsson
Ane Bakken Wold
Marzia Dellepiane
Steinn Steingrímsson
Steinn Steingrímsson
author_sort Michael Ioannou
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundPsychiatric patients may refer to concepts neither medically accepted nor easily understood to describe their experiences when seeking medical care. These concepts may lie outside the clinician’s cultural references and consequently hinder the diagnostic consultation. In the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the clinical instrument Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) was included. The CFI aims to facilitate the gathering and synthesis of culturally relevant clinical information. The notion of Cultural Concepts of Distress (CCD) was also introduced in DSM-5. The CCD include the subterms of the cultural syndrome, cultural explanation, and cultural idiom of distress. No previous study has used CFI for conceptualizing a cultural notion as a CCD. This study aimed to approach the cultural notion of being a highly sensitive person (HSP) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) by applying the CFI. The cultural notion of HSP has garnered great interest globally, although scientific evidence is limited. No direct correlation between BD and HSP was hypothesized before or during the study process.MethodsIn this case study, three patients with BD who reported being HSP were interviewed using the CFI. Furthermore, the applicability of the CCD was examined based on the outcomes of the CFI using an interpretive approach.ResultsAll three patients reported that the CFI facilitated the clinical consultation, and in one of the cases, it may also have increased the treatment engagement. Based on the synthesis of the CFI outcomes in these illustrative cases, HSP could be understood as a cultural syndrome, a cultural explanation, and a cultural idiom of distress.ConclusionBy applying a person-centered perspective, CFI was used for the conceptualization of a cultural notion as a CCD (i.e., HSP in our study). Moreover, the cases highlight the complexity of illness insight in BD as a medical phenomenon when patients’ illness perspectives are taken into consideration. Future studies need to further examine the clinical relevance of the CFI in the management of BD.
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spelling doaj.art-a5dbf464f2d44efbb446aede3f4d2b962023-09-22T07:21:44ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402023-09-011410.3389/fpsyt.2023.11486461148646Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorderMichael Ioannou0Michael Ioannou1Sofia Olsson2Ane Bakken Wold3Marzia Dellepiane4Steinn Steingrímsson5Steinn Steingrímsson6Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg, SwedenRegion Västra Götaland, Psykiatri Affektiva, Department of Psychiatry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, SwedenRegion Skåne, Office for Psychiatry and Habilitation, Psychiatric Clinic Lund, Lund, SwedenRegion Västra Götaland, Psykiatri Affektiva, Department of Psychiatry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, SwedenRegion Västra Götaland, Psykiatri Affektiva, Department of Psychiatry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, SwedenInstitute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg, SwedenRegion Västra Götaland, Psykiatri Affektiva, Department of Psychiatry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, SwedenBackgroundPsychiatric patients may refer to concepts neither medically accepted nor easily understood to describe their experiences when seeking medical care. These concepts may lie outside the clinician’s cultural references and consequently hinder the diagnostic consultation. In the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the clinical instrument Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) was included. The CFI aims to facilitate the gathering and synthesis of culturally relevant clinical information. The notion of Cultural Concepts of Distress (CCD) was also introduced in DSM-5. The CCD include the subterms of the cultural syndrome, cultural explanation, and cultural idiom of distress. No previous study has used CFI for conceptualizing a cultural notion as a CCD. This study aimed to approach the cultural notion of being a highly sensitive person (HSP) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) by applying the CFI. The cultural notion of HSP has garnered great interest globally, although scientific evidence is limited. No direct correlation between BD and HSP was hypothesized before or during the study process.MethodsIn this case study, three patients with BD who reported being HSP were interviewed using the CFI. Furthermore, the applicability of the CCD was examined based on the outcomes of the CFI using an interpretive approach.ResultsAll three patients reported that the CFI facilitated the clinical consultation, and in one of the cases, it may also have increased the treatment engagement. Based on the synthesis of the CFI outcomes in these illustrative cases, HSP could be understood as a cultural syndrome, a cultural explanation, and a cultural idiom of distress.ConclusionBy applying a person-centered perspective, CFI was used for the conceptualization of a cultural notion as a CCD (i.e., HSP in our study). Moreover, the cases highlight the complexity of illness insight in BD as a medical phenomenon when patients’ illness perspectives are taken into consideration. Future studies need to further examine the clinical relevance of the CFI in the management of BD.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1148646/fullcultural formulation interviewhighly sensitive personbipolar disorderDSM-5cultural psychiatrycultural concept of distress
spellingShingle Michael Ioannou
Michael Ioannou
Sofia Olsson
Ane Bakken Wold
Marzia Dellepiane
Steinn Steingrímsson
Steinn Steingrímsson
Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
Frontiers in Psychiatry
cultural formulation interview
highly sensitive person
bipolar disorder
DSM-5
cultural psychiatry
cultural concept of distress
title Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
title_full Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
title_fullStr Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
title_full_unstemmed Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
title_short Approaching “highly sensitive person” as a cultural concept of distress: a case-study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
title_sort approaching highly sensitive person as a cultural concept of distress a case study using the cultural formulation interview in patients with bipolar disorder
topic cultural formulation interview
highly sensitive person
bipolar disorder
DSM-5
cultural psychiatry
cultural concept of distress
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1148646/full
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