Lost in translation? Clinical challenges in cross-cultural psychiatry
Globalization, with a growing number of migrant patients calls for better cross-cultural competence among health care workers. Hospitals and outpatient clinics have become multicultural and ethnic diversity among the staff is at present the norm. In Norway psychiatry is the medical discipline with the highest proportion of practicing International Medical Graduates (IMGs).
Lost in translation? Patient under my skin: psychological challenges of psychiatrists working with difficult patients
Interview with Professor Eugenijus Laurinaitis.
Lost in translation? Experience of the non-Lithuanian psychiatrist from Lithuania in Norway
Interview with Artiom Charkavliuk.
Lost in translation? The importance of qualified interpretation
Interview with Professor Berit Berg by Anne Kristine Bergem.
Beyond words. An essay on understanding and bridging the somatic-psychiatric divide in autistic patients
For psychiatrists, working with autistic individuals presents considerable clinical and ethical challenges - especially when mental illness and somatic conditions intertwine. Many of us have encountered patients whose symptoms defy traditional categorization. The phrase “lost in translation” resonates deeply in such cases - not only across languages, but between body and mind, behavior and intention, professional and patient. This essay explores the consequences of missed sig
Psychiatrist on demand in Greenland
In March 2025 I flew to Nuuk - the capital of Greenland - to work as a consultant for 3 weeks. President Trump had once again, in the State of Union speech, threatened to take over Greenland. The atmosphere amongst Greenlanders (Inuit) was tense in the quiet and gentle way that is so typical for the mindset of the population. But they are worried with good reason about the unpredictability of world affairs and the sudden focus of interest.
How not to get lost in translation. Going abroad to help establish education in psychiatry
When Khmer Rouge’s terror regime in Cambodia was ended in 1979 there were no mental health psychiatrists in the country, and no mental health services. The Norwegian Council for Mental Health initiated an educational program for psychiatrists in Cambodia, which was managed by the University of Oslo in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration and the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Norwegian psychiatrists participated for six years in the training of the d
Lost in translation? Creating dialogues, not monologues. (Mis)communication in child and adolescent psychiatry
Interview with Gintautas Narmontas, MD
A psychiatrist's failed attempt at defining mental health
As psychiatrists, our words matter – they are our scalpel. As they have more potential to create harm than even the sharpest blade, we must use them wisely, and precisely. In this text, the definition of mental health is debated in classical Greek fashion to sharpen the blade. When Diogenes the Cynic enters the debate, chaos emerges – and an important lesson is learned.
