Insight in people with psychosis: the influence of culture

The assessment of insight is a part of the routine clinical examination for people with mental illness. Such assessment, by psychiatrists, is based on the current definitions of insight, which rely on western notions of health and illness. This paper discusses the recent findings of explanatory models of people with a variety of physical diseases in Vellore, India. It also summaries the results of studies on insight in schizophrenia, which examined explanatory models of illness among patients, relatives, and the general population, in Vellore. The findings argue for the fact that the assessment of insight should be against the local cultural standards rather than universal yardsticks.