We are pleased to present a significant research contribution examining the relationship between Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) through the interdisciplinary lens of cultural psychiatry. This study thoughtfully brings together contemporary psychological theory and Vedic astrological frameworks to explore how culturally embedded systems of meaning influence interpersonal relationships, identity formation, and emotional distress.
Research Context and Rationale
Intimate Partner Violence remains a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, often influenced by psychological traits, personality structures, relational dynamics, and sociocultural conditioning. Narcissistic Personality Disorder, characterized by patterns of grandiosity, vulnerability, entitlement, and relational instability, has increasingly been examined in connection with coercive or harmful relational behaviors.
However, beyond clinical diagnostics, individuals frequently interpret their lived experiences through culturally embedded cosmological systems. This research recognizes that meaning-making processes — whether psychological, spiritual, or cosmological — shape how distress, conflict, and relational breakdown are understood.
“This research emerged from a fundamental question: How do individuals make meaning of relational suffering when psychological experience and cultural cosmology intersect? In many communities, emotional distress is not interpreted solely through diagnostic categories but through symbolic and metaphysical narratives that carry generational depth.”- Dr Kuntal Ghosh
Methodological Approach
The study employs ethnographic methods, drawing upon selected personal narratives to explore the intersection between psychological traits and culturally situated belief systems. Rather than treating psychological and astrological models as competing or standalone diagnostic tools, the research approaches both as interpretive cultural frameworks.
This methodological stance allows for a nuanced understanding of how individuals make sense of emotional suffering and relational harm through symbolic systems that carry deep cultural resonance.
Integrating Psychological and Cosmological Frameworks
The findings emphasize that interpersonal behavior emerges from multiple interacting influences, including intergenerational patterns, environmental contexts, genetic predispositions, and significant life transitions. These biopsychosocial factors are examined alongside symbolic parallels within Vedic astrological systems — such as houses within natal charts, planetary dashas, current transits, zodiac signs, nakshatras, and divisional chart placements.
Importantly, these astrological components are not positioned as biomedical determinants or predictive mechanisms. Instead, they are analyzed as culturally meaningful interpretive languages that participants use to articulate personal struggles, relational conflict, and identity challenges.
By integrating psychological theory with participant narratives, the research demonstrates how cosmological perspectives can function as symbolic meaning-making systems that enhance therapeutic dialogue when approached with cultural sensitivity.
Clinical and Cultural Implications
This publication advocates for psychiatric and therapeutic models that recognize metaphysical and cultural belief systems without conflating them with biomedical diagnosis or clinical intervention. It calls for culturally informed mental health practices that respect belief diversity while maintaining scientific rigor.
The study contributes to the evolving discourse in cultural psychiatry by encouraging integrative, empathetic, and pluralistic approaches to complex relational phenomena. It proposes that culturally responsive frameworks can foster deeper therapeutic engagement, build trust, and create more inclusive mental health environments
Read the Full Paper
The future of mental health care lies in frameworks that are scientifically grounded yet culturally responsive. When we acknowledge the symbolic worlds people inhabit, we open space for more compassionate, inclusive, and meaningful therapeutic engagement.
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