Reflections from indigenous psychology on emotional disorders: a qualitative study from iran

347905 Introduction: Depression and Anxiety literature in Iran is suffering from the lack of culture/indigenous studies in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of emotional disorders especially in Azeri ethnic zone, and still there is no comprehensive research on how Azeri speaking individuals percept and experience depression and anxiety. Current study is carried out in order to identify depression and anxiety dimensions in Azeri ethnic group. Methods: In a cross sectional qualitative design, 32 informants from Azeri ethnicity )14 patients, 13 lay people, and 5 professionals( participated in the study from September 2013 till December 2014. Individual in-depth interviews had been conducted with regard to highlighted themes of explanations, reporting the experiences and perceptions of the participants from emotional disorders. Data were analyzed through content analysis technique. Results: Primary results indicated that 11 main theme categories identified in Azeri ethnic group which are dimensional constructs related to emotional disorders: Avoidance, Dysfunction, Arousality, Disorganized Personality, Repetition, Somatization, Problematic Behavior, Maladaptive Cognition, Awareness, Positive, and Negative Emotionality. Conclusion: In the same line with related researches in the field, Somatization had the highest frequency of symptom report by participants. However, current evidences are not supporting the hypothesis of "Somatizing" depression and anxiety in non-western people including Iran, and perhaps other psychological processes are involved in somatic symptom report. Theoretical advantages and implications of the study in the framework of clinical and indigenous studies are discussed. Declaration of Interest: None.