One Size Does Not Fit All in Psychotherapy: Understanding Depression Among Patients of Turkish Origin in Europe

Abstract

Over the last decades, Europe has become an immigration country hosting an estimated 56 million international immigrants. Yet, a large amount of literature suggests that migration is associated with a higher risk of common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. As representatives of one of the largest immigrant groups in Europe, various studies have shown that Turkish immigrants exhibit a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders than do the background population. Nevertheless, it is also well demonstrated that this particular patient group is more likely to terminate treatment prematurely and displays lower rates of treatment compliance than their native counterparts. This reluctance for service utilization might be partially because of the fact that people from non-Western ethno-cultural backgrounds (e.g., Turkey) often have a different notion and comprehension of mental health and illness as compared with those of the people from Western societies. Such mismatch often results in discrepancies between the needs and expectations of immigrant patients and clinicians, which attenuate the communication and effectiveness of treatment and lead to unexplained high dropout rates. To provide continued provision of culture-sensitive, high quality, evidence-based mental health care, the advancement of researches exploring such sociocultural differences between the patients' and the clinicians' notions of mental health must occur. In response to these problems, the current review aims to explore the interplay between culture and mental processes that associate with the etiology, maintenance, and management of depression among Turkish immigrant patients. This is to inform clinicians regarding culture-specific correlates of depression among Turkish patients to enable them to present interventions that fit the needs and expectations of this particular patient group.

Keywords: Culture; depression; immigration; mental health; psychotherapy.