Rapid economic change since reforms started in 1978 in contemporary China has also led to profound social change. Before and after 1978, at least in terms of inter-personal relationships and the inner lives of Chinese people, China often looks like a wholly different place. And while some structures (eg extended family and the trust invested in this) have proved enduring, other structures (eg public belief systems and social hierarchies) have gone by the wayside.
Our research aims to look at the ways in which understanding and characterising personality and disorders arising from rapid unbanisation in Europe and the US can be compared to Chinese diagnostic discourses. We focus on more common forms of mental health issues to establish the role of culture and belief systems in the ways these are conceptualised and then treated in China.