Author(s)

Arnulf Kolstad, Nini Gjesvik

Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Department of Social Work and Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

The purpose of this study was to reach a better understanding of how minor mental health problems (MMP) are perceived in China by professionals practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and by well-educated people living in three urban locations. The results derive from interviews with three TCM doctors, three TCM students and eight other students. Psychological problems are separated into two different categories: “serious” and “not serious”. MMP are labelled not as disorders or illnesses but looked upon as ordinary problems in daily living or as “heart problems”. MMP seem to have less serious consequences according to the Chinese than from a modern Western perspective. “Problems of life” rather than sickness was the category that best summarized perceptions of MMP. TCM professionals’ advice to change lifestyle and most Chinese regulate by themselves less serious mental problems. Both lay people and TCM professionals associate serious problems with pathological mental function in a disease perspective. Some reasons for and consequences of these comprehensions are discussed.

China; Heart Problems; Minor Mental Health Problems; Problems of Life; Traditional Chinese Medicine

Kolstad, A. and Gjesvik, N. (2012) How Are Minor Mental Health Problems Perceived by Traditional Chinese Medicine?. Chinese Medicine, 3, 79-86. doi: 10.4236/cm.2012.32013.