Psychological reactions to war trauma in Afghanistan are experienced differently to western diagnosis (Image: Paula Bronstein/Getty)

IN THIS age of globalisation, you would expect people to value and be sensitive about their local differences and diversity. And few areas could be more critical than different peoples’ understanding of the human mind when it comes to mental health and illness.

For example, a Nigerian man might experience a culturally distinct form of depression by describing a “peppery” feeling in his head, while a Chinese farmer might speak only of shoulder or stomach aches. Salvadorean women refugees suffering psychological trauma after a …