Approved by the Board of Trustees, July 2013
Approved by the Assembly, May 2013
The comparative study of mental health and mental illness among diverse societies, nations, and cultures and the multiple interrelationships of mental disorders with cultural environments have occupied the interest of individual psychiatrists and psychiatric organizations in the U.S. and abroad for many years. The growth of international collaboration in psychiatry since World War II, the many advances in clinical methods and research, particularly in the last several decades, have greatly enhanced interest in the field, as has the rapprochement of psychiatry with cultural anthropology, sociology, and behavioral sciences. The phenomena of globalization, the impact of migration, the progress in technology and its communication products, the ease of modern international travel, and a variety of other factors has quickened the pace of development.