Contemporary psychiatry is committed to developing psychiatric classifications that are geared principally towards the standardization of diagnostic criteria and the replication of data. Side effects can be felt to the extent that these classifications are ever more present in clinical observations. Among these effects, especially problematic are the narrowing of the field of observation and the consequent repercussions on the development of mental health treatment and policies. This narrowing of the field of observation leads us to a positivist model of science and to a belief in the objectivity of knowledge and, specifically, of psychiatric categories. In this article our reflection on the relations between “Scientific proof and clinical experience” is based essentially on a discussion of the consequences of standardization and objectivity in psychiatric diagnosis for both clinical and transcultural research. The theme of depression in Africa will serve as a starting point for our reflection on these questions.
Africa; depression; transcultural psychiatry