This paper explores the contributions of the Cultural Formulation (CF) interview to an overall understanding of patients, and focuses on the narratives of 23 newly referred patients with migrant backgrounds seeking help at a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Stockholm. Through text content analysis methods we identified five themes: displacement in space and time; mental illness as a physical disability; life events as etiological factors; concealing as a coping strategy; and being lost in a fragmented health care system. Findings indicate the need to contextualize symptoms for an in-depth comprehension of patients’ phenomenology. Both clinical and policy implications are discussed. The findings suggest that a section on migration and acculturation should be added to the cultural formulation in the next edition of DSM. © 2012, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.

cultural formulation cultural psychiatry Qualitative study emic perspective text content analysis

displacement behavior human middle aged life event Interview, Psychological coping behavior Mental Health Services cultural formulation qualitative research Mental Disorders Health Services Needs and Demand mental disease Humans male Emigrants and Immigrants Acculturation phenomenology female clinical article cultural factor Narration Article adult migration content analysis Patient Acceptance of Health Care health care system physical disability psychiatric department Culture