Abstract
Objective: The problems on patients' cultural background have not been sufficientry discussed in the field of psychosomatic medicine. It is often said that this is the age of globalization. Going to and coming from other countries are becoming popular. Many people from other countries live in Japan and many Japanese live overseas. In this connection, it has been reported that these people develop psychosomatic problems such as gastric ulcer and bronchial asthma under stressors which they face in other countries. Our aim is to describe the concept and meaning of transcultural psychosomatic medicine and to transmit it to the world as one of the new fields of Japan's psychosomatic medicine. Method: We introduce the concept and meaning of transcultural psychosomatic medicine by taking examples of eating disorder and other psychosomatic disorders. Result and discussion: Transcultural psychosomatic medicine is a clinical and practical medicine which deals with mind-body medical problems caused by various different cultural issues. Social and environmental changes often trigger off and aggravate psychosomatic disorders. This fact is closely related to cultural elements. Transcultural stressors work both in favorable and unfavorable directions. Eating disorder can be understood better as a culture change syndrome rather than a culture-bound syndrome. These socio-cultural changes keep a suitable psychological distance between patients and their family and can contribute to symptomatic amelioration. Conclusion: The modern psychosomatic medicine requires a transcultural viewpoint independent of and in addition to the bio-socio-ethical point of view.
