Presentation Information
[SY-104-04]From culturally-induced splitting to cultural delusions
*Donato Zupin2,1 (1.DDSM - Mental Health Area-WHO Collaborative Center, ASUGI. Psychiatrist(Italy), 2.Italian Insitute of Transcultural Mental Health(Italy))
Keywords:
Culturally-induced splitting,Cultural delusions,Cultural representations of migrants
Cultural psychiatry and medical anthropology emphasize the importance of situating pathology and its treatment not only within the individual but within a broader socio-cultural framework. Previous studies in the Euro-American context have described how public discourse on migration—including media narratives and public opinion—tends to oscillate between two opposing representations: the good migrant and the bad migrant. These representations do not refer to migrants themselves but to how they are collectively imagined, creating a fragmented and contradictory perception of migration.Building on these findings, this presentation introduces the concept of culturally-induced splitting as an interpretative framework to analyze this phenomenon. Culturally-induced splitting structures collective perception through rigid and polarized categories, reinforcing social tensions. While previous research has explored this dynamic in media and public opinion, this study examines its manifestation within Euro-American public institutions, highlighting its impact on the quality of functioning of community mental health services.Within this context, the emergence of cultural delusions can be considered a possible mechanism through which these contradictions are dynamically managed at the Euro-American level. Cultural delusions could be considered as beliefs strongly upheld by a particular social group and, as a result, experienced as ego-syntonic. These beliefs are unrealistic and potentially harmful, yet inherently unfalsifiable and resistant to contradiction due to the social consensus they enjoy. Their pervasiveness across the individual's cognitive and emotional landscape, along with their influence on behaviour, further reinforces their impact.This presentation examines how the culturally-induced splitting of Euro-American imaginaries about migration contributes to the emergence of cultural delusions of racism and white supremacism. At the same time, it suggests that the proposed causal chain—from culturally-induced splitting to cultural delusion—may provide a broader interpretative model for other culturally significant issues in different socio-cultural contexts.