Multiculturalism and Canadian psychiatry: opportunities and challenges

In this lecture, the writer calls the attention of Canadian psychiatrists to the unparalleled opportunities the national policy of multiculturalism has for clinical and research activities. Using illustrations from three important fields in psychiatry--epidemiology, psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, he points out the roles socio-cultural factors play in generating ethnic differences which deserve to be given serious scientific attention for both the understanding of causative factors and the treatment of mental disorders. He emphasizes that medical universalism and ethnocentricism have no place in Canadian psychiatry, and that the next phase of Canadian psychiatry should focus on cultural relevancy based on cultural relativism and equal participation of all cultures and ethnic groups.