ABSTRACT
AIM: This paper is a report of a study to investigate the culture-specific symptom manifestation and expression of depression in Korean immigrant women in the United States of America (USA). BACKGROUND: The literature indicates that Korean immigrants to the USA report higher levels of depressive symptoms than immigrants from other Asian ethnic groups, and women immigrants tend to encounter more gender-related emotional difficulties. However, because of traditional cultural beliefs, immigrants may not seek treatment for depression and, when they do, tend to leave treatment prematurely. METHODS: We used an ethnographic method based on Spradley's Developmental Research Sequence with a sample of 17 Korean immigrant women who scored mild-to-severe depression on a Korean version of the Hamilton Depression Inventory Scale. Data were collected from 2005 to 2006, and consisted of tape-recorded interviews, field notes and diaries. FINDINGS: Depressive symptoms were complex, intertwined and felt in all domains of the person's existence. They were expressed mainly through emotional and physical suffering, and the expression of suffering as a way of life. Themes elicited were emotional entrapment, shame and failure as women, disappointment at not being able to live a normal life and emotional restraint, as emotions were not generally expressed verbally but instead were expressed somatically, bodily and metaphorically. CONCLUSION: Being aware of culture-specific symptoms of depression among Korean immigrant women can assist nurses in caring for them and thus improving their therapeutic alliances and preventing them from prematurely terminating treatment.
