“Ghost on the coast”: Persistent hallucinations through the prism of cultural concepts of distress

Abstract

There is minimal literature and case reports on cultural concepts of distress, especially on ghost sickness. The aim of this article is to educate clinicians to culture-bound syndromes/cultural concepts of distress when assessing people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This case report describes an elderly male of Papua New Guinea who presented with psychotic symptoms, shaped by the cultural concept of distress from experiencing loss. This paper describes the importance of utilizing of cultural liaison officers to provide culturally-informed care and before diagnosing a patient with the culture concept of distress, every effort should be made to thoroughly investigate to exclude an organic cause for the presentation.

Keywords

• brief psychotic illness
• culture-bound syndrome
• culture concept of distress
• ghost sickness