1990: Taipei, Taiwan: ALCOHOLISM IN KOREA, JAPAN AND CHINA(TAIWAN)

THE THIRD CULTURAL PSYCHIATRY SYMPOSIUM IN TAIPEI, 1990
ALCOHOLISM IN KOREA, JAPAN AND CHINA(TAIWAN)
Place : College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Date : November 30-December 2, 1990
PROGRAM
November 30
5:30-6:30PMBusiness Meeting
6:30-8:30Reception
December 1
8:40-8:50AMOpening AddressHsien Rin, M.D.
8:50-9:00Presidential AddressKyoichi Kondo, M.D.
Chairperson : Kyoichi Kondo, M.D.
9:00-9:45Alcoholic Disorder in Korea Kwangiel Kim, M.C.
9:45-1-05Formal DiscussionHai-Gwo Hwu, M.D.
Coffee Break
Chairperson : Zuk-Nae Lee, M.D.
Hsien Rin, M.D.
10:05-11:45 General Discussion
Chairperson : Hyun-Woo Kim, M.D.
1:30-2:15PM General Trends of Alcoholism
In JapanSatoru Saito, M.D.
2:15-2:35 Formal Discussion Hwan-Il Chang, M.D.
Coffee Break
Chairperson : Kenji Kitanishi, M.D.
Wei-Tsuen Soong, M.D.
2:35-4:15 General Discussion
6:00-8:00 Banquet
December 2
Chairperson : Si-Hyung Lee, M.D.
8:30-9:15AMDrinking Problem Among Four
                                Aboriginal Tribes in Taiwan   Tai-Ann Cheng, M.D.
9:15-9:35Formal discussion Yoshihiro Narita, M.D.
Coffee Break
Chairperson : Bou-Yong Rhi, M.D.
  Jung-Kwang Wen,M.D.
9:35-11:15General Discussion
11:15-11:25Closing AddressHo Young Lee, M.D.
Official Language : English
Topic Presentation for 45 min., Formal Discussion for 20 min.
MEMBERS OF THE EAST ASIAN ACADEMY OF CULTURAL PSYCHIATRY(1990)
JAPAN KOREA
Takeo Doi, M.D.
Consultant
St. Luke’s International Hospital
Tokyo, Japan Bou-Yong Rhi, M.D.(President, 1987-88)
Professor and Chairman,
Dept. of Psychiatry,
Seoul National Univ. Hospital
28 Yeonkun-Dong, Chongro-Ku
Seoul, 110-744 Korea
Yomishi Kasahara, M.D.
Professor and Chairman,
Dept. of Neuropsychiatry,
School of Medicine,
Nagoya National University
Nagoya, Japan Ho-Young Lee, M.D.(President, 1991-92)
Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry,
Yonsei Univ. Severance Hospital
134- shinchon-Dong, Seodaemun-Ku
Seoul, 110-102 Korea
Kyoichi Kondo, M.D.(President 1989-90)
Chief,
Psychiatric Service,
Machida City Hospital,
Tokyo, Japan Si-Hyung Lee, M.D.
Chairman,
Dept. of Neuropsychiatry,
Korea General Hospital
108 Pyeong-Dong, Chongro-Ku
Seoul, 110-102 Korea
Kazuya Yoshimatsum, M.D.
Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry,
School of Medicine,
Sinshu University
Japan Kwang-Iel Kim, M.D.
Professor and Chairman,
Dept. of Psychiatry,
Han Yang Univ. Hospital
17 haengdang-Dong, sungdong-Ku
Seoul, 133-792 Korea
Satoru Saito, M.D.
Head
Division of Sociopathology,
Psychiatric Research institute of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Zuk-Nae Lee, M.D.
Professor,
Dept. of Neuropsychiatry,
Kyung-Pook Univ.Hospital
52 Samduk-dong 2-Ka, Chung-Ku
Taegu, 700-412 Korea
Yoshihito Narita, M.D.
Head
Dept. of Psychiatry,
Chukyo Hospital,
Nagoya, Japan Hwan-Il Chang, M.D
Professor and Chairman,
Dept. of Neuropsychiatry,
Kyung Hee Univ. Hospital
1 Hoiki-Dong, Dongdaemun-Ku
Seoul, 135-702 Korea
Kenji Kitanishi, M.D.(Secretary in General)
Assoc. Professor,
Dept. of Psychiatry,
Jikei University School of Medicine,
Tokyo, Japan Hyun-Woo Kim, M.D.
Chairman, Dept. of Neuropsychiatry,
National Medical Center,
18-79 Ulchiro 6-Ka, Chung-Ku
Seoul, 100-196 Korea
CHINA (TAIWAN)
Hsien Rin, M.D.
Professor
Dept, of Psychiatry
College of Medicine
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwanm, R.O.C.
Wei-Tsuen Soong, M.D.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry
College of Medicine
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Hai-Gwo Hwu, M.D.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry
College of Medicine
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Jung-Kwang Wen, M.D.
Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry
Kaohsiung Medical College
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tai-Ann Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., MRCPsych.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry
College of Medicine
National Taiwan university
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Opening Address
It is our pleasant task to welcome distinguished colleagues from Korea and Japan. In this Symposium of the East-Asian Academy of Cultural Psychiary, it is clear that we look to future advances in the fields of cultural psychiatry and mental health sciences through keen collaboration by our researchers.
  The first Symposium held in Seoul during February 1987 and the second Symposium in Nagoya during December 1988 have been and unqualified success. This third Symposium , then, we believe, would be one step toward our goal of providing access to knowledge that will promote wider range of investigation of culture cases.
  We are extremely delightful with having had an opportunity to join the academic meeting of Japanese and Korean psychiatrists and to form a committee to prepare this 3rd Symposium to be held in Taipei. Our Taiwan members are also from diverse research interests and have different aspects in cultural psychiatric research. As organizer of the Symposium, I would like to thank my very deligent and enterprising committee for without whose help and support, I could not have accomplished this important task.
  We have chosen “Alcoholism in Korea, Japan and China(Taiwan)” as the main theme in this Symposium. For long, Asian people were generally regarded as low-risk opulation of alcoholism, and it has thought to exist cultural factors which might minimize the drinking problem and alcocholism. Up to now however, there has been observed a bunch of evidences of heightened rates of alcoholism both among general population and psychiatric in and outpatient populatin in many countries.
People of Aian cultures emphasize social drinking and discourage solitary drinking. Their drinking takes place almost exclusively with eating. Heavy drinking usually occurs in social occasions or during ceremonial rituals. Asian people are generally thought to equip constitutional peculiarities responsible for their resistence to alcohol, and may serve to provide protective effect on drinking problem. Nevertheless, one from another, each Asian culture has fallen into the racket of alcoholism in the course of westernization and industrialization pressures in the past three to four decades.
Chinese culture has been thought of free from alcoholism, and if it remains true, there might be specific factors that contribute to the protective effect of Chinese culture against alcohollsm. Many researches were done in this regard. Rates of alchoholism in our psychiatric out-patient were 0.06% among new cases in 1950’s, and 0.3% in both 1960’s. Admision rate of alcoholism has kept unchanged at the level less than one percent. Such an immunity to alcoholism may well to do something to apply on other cultures where alcoholism is prevalent. However, a rising trend of alcoholic psychosis and alsoholism has been reported recently in Hong Kong where massively exposed to western culture. Similar trend has also been reported among Chinese in Singapore.
Rates of alcohol abuse and dependence are still generally low among Taiwan Chinese, but rarity of alcoholism of our population seems to be no more consistant affirmation. The heightened rates are reported very recently. There are, therefore, universal commonalities as well as particular uniqueness in cultural dynamic processes that increasingly influencing on the rate of alcoholism.
I hope that the discussion will be highly rewarding and culturally an enriching one. May this Symposium bring about more good will and fellowship throughout in the mind and hearts of all participants. We wish colleagues from Japan and Korea will take home with you good memories of our evergreen island and discussion of our deliberations.
December 1, 1990
Hsien Rin, M.D.
Chairman, Organizing Committee
Presidential Address
As President of the EAACP, it is indeed an unique priviledge to have the opportunity of speaking at the opening of the 3rd Cultural Psychiatry Symposium here in Taipei continuously after the 2nd meeting in Nagoya. It is also with a profound feeling of pleasure for me to have a new membership of Taiwanese colleagues this time.
I am speaking on behalf of all participants, and in particular on behalf of those who came from overseas, in thanking greatly Professor Rin and the organizers of this conference for inviting us to this international forum. My congratulations to them for the diligent work which they have done in planning and organizing this outstanding program for the forum.
It is my understanding that the goals of this forum are, in general, threefold: First, it should provide a forum for the exchange of information between participants in this meeting. Second, it should provide an opportunity to establish and renew personal relationship between participants, and finally, it should stimulate the interests and ambition of participants to cooperate in their efforts.
But the particular concern and goals of this conference may, I believe, inspire scientists to do some theory-testing in their future cross-cultural research. Important to a successful conference is the cooperative interaction and congeniality of its participants.
The opportunity for representatives of the cultural psychiatry to meet for a fruitful interchange of ideas on the problems central to cross-cultural research is provided by this meeting. In this sense, it is very gratifying to me that we are assembled here today for an informative exchange of ideas from cross-cultural point of view about such an important and impending subject matter as alcoholism and alchohol-related problems.
I am confident that the outcome of this gathering will be renewed enthusiasm and vigor that will in turn furnish a springboard for future interdisciplinary cooperation in transcultural study.
December 1, 1990
Kyoichi Kondo, M.D.
President
East Asian Academy of Cultural Psychiatry
Closing Address
It is a great honor to have the role of closing the third symposium of our academy. It has been an exciting conference and a very significant one for the Taiwanese colleagues who are included for the first time. This is my first visit to Taiwan and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to come to the city of Taipei. I have always been interested in Taiwan, the strength, determination and perseverance of its people during the decade of struggle and endurance is admirable. In the recent years Taiwan had made tremendous stride in the national economic growth. I admired them for their enormous achievement. I am most grateful to Dr. Rin Hsien, the host of this meeting, who deserves commendation for the meticulous preparation of the meeting in such limited period of organization. I congratulate you and your colleagues for the excellent job you had done. We will remember the hospitality you have extended while we stay in Taipai. You have set a bad example, the one that will be hard to reciprocate. Your kindness made all of us very comfortable.
We are indeed living in an exciting era, witnessing so many changes in such rapid paces all over the world. It is hard for us to catch up all the changes.
Besides the changes that we have witnessed, I believe that the changes we have brought in the East Asia is outstanding. Today, international attention has shifted and focused to Pacific Ring countries. Even such big countries as the U.S. and the Soviet Union are now eager to identify themselves as Pacific Ring countries as their future allied heavily upon their relationship with these countries of this area. More thank ever, it is important for countries of East Asia to united, particularly of the three; -Japan, Korea, and China.
We have much in common in cultural heritage, yet sharply in contrast in that each country holds its unique and natural character. The potential growth of these three countries will be enormous if we shared technical and cultural resources. I can project similar prospect in the field of cultural psychiatry. It is so appropriate and relevant that the leading cultural psychiatrists of Japan, Korea and Taiwan sat together and discussed the mental issues in cultural perspectives. It has been an exciting two day. We learned so much of each other. I learned that the Japanese colleagues has a practical view and definition of alcoholism. They are not out on the street, claiming that they could cure all the mind to tackle problems that they can handle within their clinical scope. Tnank Dr. Saito for his work. Japan is more advanced in its treatment and research of alcoholism than Korea and Taiwan. Dr. Saito’s family approach was very impressive. I also wonder if Korea is not following the footsteps of Japan as far as female drinking problem is concerned.
I learned that the alcohol drinking problem is not a serious social problem in Taiwan yet. Somehow, they had maintained the traditional Chinese culture system which prevents various forms of social deviances and I want you to keep it that way. It is your responsibility, Taiwanese colleagues, to prevent the breakdown of traditional cultural system. It is regretful to see increasing rate of alcoholism among the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. There seem to be something sacred and mysterious about these people. They drank on special occasions, during ceremomies festivals, huntings, harvests, food-joy, relaxations and interactions. Obviously, in the process of acculturation, aboriginal tribes start to drink for other purposes and drank more. On the other hand, those who are acculturated more seem to have develop individual control system.
Culture is indeed interesting; and transitional culture of any form is even more interesting.
In many part of the world today, alcoholism is a large and threatening problem. The countries of East Asia are not exceptions. In East Asia, rapid changes in thestructure of thesociety and in particular the influences of industrialization have meant that all social cultural controls of drinking have broken down, at exactly the same moment as growing economic forces had lead to the immense consumption as well as manufacture of alcoholic beverage. Obviously, prosperity seems to breed alcoholism as much as poverty. Alcoholism is a great social leveler. We must understand the cause of excessive drinking, particularly of social cultural influences on this behaviour. And we had just done that.
The Third Symposium of the Academy is a success, but the meeting was more than the exchange of academic knowledges. It solidify our friendship and fellowship which is far more important for the productivity of the Academy for the years to come. As I close this meeting, I wish you good luck and we will meet again in Seoul in 1992. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
December 2, 1990
Ho Young Lee, M.D.