Abstract:
Kreps (2001) notes an interpersonal dimension to health where there are relational
influences to health outcomes. These interactions are further complicated by culture, as various
cultures have differing cultural perceptions about mental illness. These perceptions ultimately
affect how one communicates (Dutta & Basu, 2008). This study combines Communication
Privacy Management Theory (Petronio & Dunham, 2008) which provides a foundation for how
people manage and share information, along with Orbe’s (1998) Co-Cultural Theory which
shows how positions of power between dominant and marginalized group members affect
communication practices, to explore co-cultural differences in self-disclosure of mental illness.
In this study, 314 participants who were either disclosers of a mental health diagnosis or
recipients of a mental health diagnosis took part in a web-based survey on communicating mental
health. Results showed that regardless of co-cultural status, both White and non-White disclosers
shared their diagnosis either through direct (straight-forward) communication or by explaining
their diagnosis or treatment. Recipients also found out through prior knowledge or observation
(either by observing the discloser’s behavior or because they were told by someone else). White
and non-White participants also listed similar reasons for disclosing, and similar responses by
recipients.
However, while ethnicity or co-cultural status did not play a role in how one decided to
tell, there were significant differences between Whites and non-Whites on ethnic effects on
choosing to self-disclose and recipient responses to that disclosure. In this instance, non-Whites
were more likely than their White counterparts to note that their ethnicity played a role in
choosing to disclose or in how they reacted to the disclosure. They cited cultural customs and
beliefs as reasons for why they felt ethnicity affected disclosure. Thus, it is implied that cocultural
status does in fact play a role in self-disclosure of a mental illness, and that the stigma of
mental illness among various cultural groups is still present.
