This article proposes a theory of psychological disturbance (mental illness) as a cultural phenomenon. The theory is based on – and extends – the general cultural psychological theory of Vygotsky, Luria, and Leontiev, as well as the specific social approach to psychopathy of Fromm, Foucault, Laing, and Rieber. We demonstrate that the psychodynamics of individual disturbances are shaped by normative, macro cultural factors, such as gender norms, religious doctrine, family structure, architecture, and clothing. We illustrate this cultural psychological analysis of individual psychology with a case study of a 25 year old Saudi obsessive compulsive patient in Riyadh backed by 50 interviews with students about family relations in Saudi Arabia. We discuss the therapeutic and political implications of our cultural theory of psychological disturbance.
This article seeks to problematize the issue of pathology and to render it intelligible. I elucidate a cultural-political model of a) why pathology is prevalent in numerous forms and social domains, and b) interventions for ameliorating widespread pathology, and ultimately eradicating it. This model draws on the work of Erich Fromm that articulates how pathology is characteristic of normal social, psychological activity in many or most societies. This article also discusses two ways in which prevalent pathology is misunderstood, and not corrected, eradicated, or prevented. One misinterpretation is the standard biomedical model of pathology. A second misinterpretation is a liberal, humanistic, postmodern position that denies all pathology and insists that behavior is a positive expression of choice and agency, which must be validated and accepted rather than corrected.