El problema de las definiciones en el campo de la salud mental : Definiciones aplicables en estudios epidemiológicos

Abstract

At the present stage of development, psychiatry in general and epidemiological studies of mental health in particular need to formulate more precise concepts and definitions that will make it possible to compare studies made in different countries and different cultures. Examples are given to illustrate the importance of applying progressively more scientific definitions (nominal, ostensible, real, conditional, postulative) to clinical, epidemiological, and experimental studies in the field of mental health. The author emphasizes that, in addition to its theoretical quality, the definition should be framed in objective and operational terms. He gives examples of the application of operational definitions of alcoholism, psychosis, insanity, oligophrenia, epilepsy, and neurosis and outlines a proposed transcultural investigation of the prevalence of mental disorders in Chile in the aborigenal mapuche culture and the Chilean, non-aborigenal culture