Psychiatry in China

H. Shan

Shanghai XuHui Mental Health Center, No. 249, LangHua West Street, Shanghai 200232, People's Republic of China

EDITED BY KHALIDA ISMAIL

In response to Lyons (2001) and Kumar (2000), I have been working on the research of Qigong-related mental disorder and culture-bound syndrome in China for over a decade and I feel it is unfair for psychiatry in China to be represented by their remarks. I would argue that it is the misuse of Qigong, rather than misuse of psychiatry, that is at issue in China, according to my experience of research of Falun Gong-related mental disorder and culture-bound syndrome (Shan et al, 1987, 2000; Shan, 1999). Some of the reports about the abuse of psychiatry in China are based on political issues and lack any awareness of academic research and study in China. In fact, Qigong was misused in China, and the patients and practitioners who suffered with Falun-Gong-related mental disorders need to be treated in psychiatry. I must call for more experts in psychiatry and in the World Psychiatric Association to pay attention to the research of Qigong- and Falun-Gong-related mental disorders.

REFERENCES

Kumar, S. (2000) International concern grows over psychiatric abuses in China. Lancet, 356, 920.

Lyons, D. (2001) Soviet-style psychiatry is alive and well in the People's Republic (letter). British Journal of Psychiatry, 178, 380-381.[Free Full Text]

Shan, H. (1999) Clinical diagnoses and Qigong-induced mental disorder (in Chinese). Chinese Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 25, 180-189.

Shan, H., Yan, H. J., Xu, S. H., et al (1987) A study of the clinical phenomenology of mental disorders induced by Qigong (in Chinese). Chinese Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 13, 266-269.

Shan, H., Tao, M. Y. & Yu, Y. P. (2000) Falun Gong-related mental disorders (in Chinese). Journal of Clinical Psychological Medicine, 10, 345-347.[CrossRef]





This Article
Submit a response
Alert me when this article is cited
Alert me when eLetters are posted
Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Email this article to a friend
Similar articles in this journal
Similar articles in PubMed
Alert me to new issues of the journal
Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Articles by Shan, H.
Articles citing this Article
PubMed
PubMed Citation
Articles by Shan, H.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals