Cross-cultural views of self in the treatment of mental illness: disentangling the curative aspects of myth from the mythic aspects of cure.

This paper compares Eastern and Western concepts of self within the context of the healing process. I draw upon the work of Sudhir Kakar and Heinz Kohut to illustrate differences in how mental illness is expressed and treated in India and the United States. I propose that cultural variances in the way that illness is expressed and treated relate to differences in culturally determined "myths" of the self. In India, where Kakar lives and works, the self is conceived as fluid and interdependent; in the West, the self is conceived as more solid and autonomous. The therapeutic methods employed by the Western-trained psychoanalyst and psychotherapist make use of the Western myth of self. Likewise, in India the shaman heals in accordance with the myths available to him. No matter what our cultural background, such myths lend coherence to our experience and influence the way in which we solve our problems, including the problem of "mental illness." Finally, I suggest that these "myths" of self are not static and point out ways in which the Western myth of self is evolving. As these myths change, so do our methods of treating mental illness.