When I train managers as coaches I always warn them to respect the power of coaching questions and to recognize the possibility that what starts as an innocuous, business related conversation, may lead to the unveiling of a deeper issue. Coaching managers would be advised to develop at least a little insight into the signs of abnormal psychology.

This article examines the part that culture may play in abnormal psychology. Could it be that the propensity, identification and treatment of mental disorders could be affected by matters such as race, religious conviction, etc?

Culture Bias in Diagnosis

Certainly in Britain - where I am based - there are research statistics showing differences in the prevalence rates for mental disorders between different ethnic or cultural groups.

Depression

Whilst common in our own culture, depression appears almost absent in Asian cultures, although this could be to do with the actual numbers of reported cases. Recent research (Rock, 1982) found that Asians tend to consult their doctors only for physical problems, seeing emotional distress as something to be sorted out within the family.

The symptoms of depression also vary. Whereas in the West depression is associated with feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteeem, may Africans, for example, would complain of bloating of the stomach and burning sensations (Ebigno, 1986).

Schizophrenia

There is some suggestion that British psychiatry is insensitive to cultural differences. Cochrane and Sashidharan (1995) found that African-Caribbean immigrants were up to 7 times more likely than white people to receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia. This was not found to be the case in other countries (Cardwell et al, 1996). Also, in a study by Nazroo (1997) it was found that the rate of schizophrenia among Caribbean men was found to be no greater than among white men, although they were five times more likely to be hospitalized.

Cultural Blindness

Most psychological therapists have been trained in theory and practice which have North American or Central European origins. There appears to be a common assumption that the behaviours of the white population are normative and that any deviation from this is indicative of racial or cultural pathology (Cochrane and Sashidharan, 1995).

Although white therapists are reluctant to believe that they may be racist, there is evidence to suggest that black people, for example, do not respond well to traditional methods of psychotherapy (Jones, 1985).

Therapy 'cross race' can be very difficult; wherever possible clients should be given the choice to consult a therapist from their own cultural background.

I conclude that we must question the arrogant Western view of the so-called 'developing' world. Developing in to what? Overweight, Prozac munching neurotics?

What then of the coaching manager who stumbles upon such issues when coaching around workload management or time keeping? Best advice would seem to be to keep to good coaching principles. Ask questions designed to raise awareness, generate responsibility and build trust then listen carefully and attentively to the responses. This is highly unlikely to make things worse and may actually do quite a lot of good.

After that, it's a question of referring the coachee to the relevant professional. With this in mind my advice to the coaching manager is familiarize themselves with their organization's welfare procedure.