Mental Illness in China: Sociopolitical Phases in the Evolution of Psychiatry and Perspectives from a Theology of Harmony
Jennifer Tu, Medical Student, Theology, Medicine, and Culture Fellow, Duke School of Medicine, Duke Divinity School
Confronted with alarming rates of suicide and self-injury in Asia and Asian Americans, we may be tempted to blame Confucian principles or Orientalist stereotypes, painting the shame and stigma surrounding mental illness in broad strokes. On closer look, however, each country in Asia exhibits a unique and complex interplay between history, politics, and mental healthcare. Contrasting histories of psychiatry exemplify this need for finer detail, as they reveal the different processes by which missionary psychiatric hospitals were adapted over time to each country’s political and cultural scene.
In China, mental healthcare rapidly transitioned from missionary hospitals to secular psychiatry, at a pace set by the political environment of the 20th century. Now in China’s narrative, psychiatric care has ironically returned to former missionary buildings, while the role of religion remains an unclear part of the picture. Religious practices in China have steadily increased, potentially as a search for meaning in response to the country’s tumultuous political history, frustrations over misplaced loyalties, and the development of a hypercompetitive economy.
In this essay, I will examine three historical phases of psychiatry in China, which have led to “mental hygiene” as a sociopolitical dimension of Chinese mental healthcare. After assessing this historical framework, I will describe the recent development of “manufactured mental illness (bei jin shen bing),” a neologism in skeptical response to inappropriate psychiatric hospitalization.
Given this context, I will then propose a theological framework to consider the evolution of psychiatry in China, inspired by the ongoing work of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC): “Theology of Harmony” as a spiritual and ecological call to freedom of expression, creativity, and dialogue . While resonating with multiple religious traditions and Confucianism, Harmony should also be painted differently in each society. To overcome stigma and shame surrounding mental health in China, Harmony would require the reduction of censorship and creation of more space for patient narratives, conflict resolution, and discourse at the level of the nation, community, and family.
In China, mental healthcare rapidly transitioned from missionary hospitals to secular psychiatry, at a pace set by the political environment of the 20th century. Now in China’s narrative, psychiatric care has ironically returned to former missionary buildings, while the role of religion remains an unclear part of the picture. Religious practices in China have steadily increased, potentially as a search for meaning in response to the country’s tumultuous political history, frustrations over misplaced loyalties, and the development of a hypercompetitive economy.
In this essay, I will examine three historical phases of psychiatry in China, which have led to “mental hygiene” as a sociopolitical dimension of Chinese mental healthcare. After assessing this historical framework, I will describe the recent development of “manufactured mental illness (bei jin shen bing),” a neologism in skeptical response to inappropriate psychiatric hospitalization.
Given this context, I will then propose a theological framework to consider the evolution of psychiatry in China, inspired by the ongoing work of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC): “Theology of Harmony” as a spiritual and ecological call to freedom of expression, creativity, and dialogue . While resonating with multiple religious traditions and Confucianism, Harmony should also be painted differently in each society. To overcome stigma and shame surrounding mental health in China, Harmony would require the reduction of censorship and creation of more space for patient narratives, conflict resolution, and discourse at the level of the nation, community, and family.