The fact that the notion of mental health and mental disorders is socially constructed is supported by cross-cultural studies that demonstrate that the very same behaviors might be perceived as the norm in one culture and deviation in another. Apart from cultural differences in the understanding of disorders, an effective mental health treatment should be sensitive to cultural differences as culture has a strong impact on individual’s expectation of the work that a mental health professional demonstrates. Some studies suggest that culture influences an individual’s attempts to seek mental health services. Specifically, as shown in the study conducted by Kwok (2013), Asian Americans rarely seek for professional help when it comes to mental health as there is a strong cultural stigma associated with this type of disorders.

According to Kwok (2013), many Asian Americans believe that mental disorders develop as a result of lack of willpower, which eventually negatively affects an individual’s desire to seek for assistance. In addition to this, Western approach to mental treatment focuses on an individual and protection of his or her privacy in the process of treatment. However, Asian culture, which is foremost a collectivist culture, has an embedded notion that an individual’s family should be involved in the process of treatment and provide the needed support (Kwok, 2013). A failure of Western system of mental health treatment to provide the above-mentioned environment for a patient eventually results in premature termination. This calls for the importance of addressing the notion of culture in the process of health treatment provision.

The fact that the process of treatment should be sensitive to cultural differences is also supported by the finding of the study conducted by Mulvaney-Day et al (2011). The study shows that the understanding of certain themes that are important in the context of mental health treatment, such as listening, understanding, spending time, and managing different, varies significantly across African American, Latino, and non-Latino white cultures. For instance, if for African American patients understanding id described as foremost the ability to see beyond an immediate impression, white Americans define it as an understanding of the complexity of one’s life circumstances and choices (Mulvaney-Day et al, 2011, p. 36). From this point of view, the strategies need to take into account these differences in the understanding of themes in order to produce the highest effectiveness of treatment.

Kohrt and Harper (2008) in their article help to provide a better understanding of the nature of stigma associated with mental health illnesses in some cultures. According to the authors, Western cultures focus on mind-body dichotomy, which eventually results in the situation when the society poses less stigma on individuals who suffer from illnesses since, according to Western understanding, one’s body is ‘detached’ from one’s mind. In contrast, many non-Western cultures have the ideas of mind-body holism, which often puts blame on an individual who suffers from a mental illness and decreases an individual’s desire to seek for medical interventions. Thus, differences in help-seeking patterns to a big extent reflect the cultural differences in the understanding of the relationship between mind and body, which is important for medical health professionals to take into account.

In conclusion, the findings of three studies mentioned above confirm the notion of the importance of a culturally sensitive approach to medial health treatment and mental health policies, especially in a society as diverse as American society. Culture influences not only the extent to which an individual is likely to seek for mental health help, but also the expectations that the representatives of different cultures have regarding the assistance that they want to receive.