Examines the influence of Arab cultural and environmental factors on the symptoms, course, diagnosis, and management of schizophreniIn Arabic culture, supernatural forces are believed to influence the life of all human beings. Since the diagnosis of schizophenia with the ICD-10 guidelines relies heavily on 1st rank symptoms, caution is necessary in detecting those symptoms in communities where socioculturally shared beliefs bear a resemblance to 1st rank symptoms. International studies have documented the better outcome of schizophrenia in developing traditional societies than in developed industrial societies. Reasons for this difference include the tendency for lower expressed emotion in family members and the tolerant sociocultural attitudes toward schizophrenic patients in traditional societies. Cultural factors also play a role in the management and rehabilitation of schizophrenic patients. Patients who develop behavioral symptoms are more likely to be taken to traditional healers than those with somatic symptoms.