Approaching mental health on a global scale with particular reference to low- and mid-income countries raises issues concerning the disregard of the local context and values and the imposition of values characteristic of the Global North. Seeking a philosophical viewpoint to surmount these problems, the present paper argues for a value-laden framework for psychiatry with the specific incorporation of value pluralism, particularly in relation to the Global South context, while also emphasizing personal values such as the choice of treatment. In sketching out this framework, the paper aims to overcome the clash between universalism and relativism about psychiatric categories by focusing on how overlaps between cultures can contribute to ontology-building. A case study analyzing ethnopsychiatric research in the context of South India will illustrate the proposed view, while also pointing out avenues for further research on the causal efficacy of local shared beliefs about mental disorder. If approaches across different traditions and theoretical frames are shown to work in treating similar ailments, causal connections appear to cut across the different ontologies. Ethnopsychiatry would play a central role in such research, namely in disclosing the variables and mechanisms at work within the local approaches.

在全球范围内，特别是针对低收入和中等收入国家的精神卫生问题，引起了关于无视当地背景和价值观以及强加全球北方特征价值观的问题。为了寻求解决这些问题的哲学观点，本论文提出了一种精神错乱的价值载重的精神病学框架，其中明确地纳入了价值多元化，特别是与全球南方背景相关的价值多元化，同时也强调了诸如治疗选择之类的个人价值。在草拟此框架时，本文旨在通过关注文化之间的重叠如何促进本体构建，来克服普遍主义和相对主义在精神病学类别之间的冲突。案例分析在南印度的背景下进行的民族精神病学研究将说明所提出的观点，同时还指出了进一步研究有关本地共享的精神障碍信念因果效力的途径。如果显示出跨越不同传统和理论框架的方法可用于治疗相似疾病，则因果联系似乎跨越了不同本体。民族精神病学将在此类研究中发挥核心作用，即在当地方法中揭示起作用的变量和机制。因果联系似乎跨越了不同的本体。民族精神病学将在此类研究中发挥核心作用，即在当地方法中揭示起作用的变量和机制。因果联系似乎跨越了不同的本体。民族精神病学将在此类研究中发挥核心作用，即在当地方法中揭示起作用的变量和机制。