Indigenous Health Perspective: Health Story of an Indigenous Person with Psychological Distress

This assignment provides a narrative regarding the health story of an indigenous person with psychological distress. It outlines the health journey of Mr. A, a brief history of his background and family, how the life-changing event related to the health condition has changed his life, and the impact of the health condition on his life, family, and community. The paper provides adequate evidence from various relevant sources regarding the health issue identified in the narrative.

Running head: INDIGENOUS HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
INDIGENOUS HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
HEALTH STORY OF AN INDIGENOUS PERSON; PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1INDIGENOUS HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
Introduction:
The purpose of the assignment is to provide a narrative regarding the health story of
an indigenous person. The narrative will outline the health journey of a person whom I shall
call Mr. A, a brief history of his background and family, how the life changing event related
to the health condition have changed his life and the impact of the health condition on his life,
family and community. The paper will provide adequate evidence from various relevant
sources regarding the health issue identified in the narrative. I have arranged an interview
with the person and his care giver to compile with the health history. I have focused on one
major health concern of Mr. A as he has various health concerns. The story will introduce us
with the pain, bravery and loneliness of a person with psychological distress.
Background:
Born: 1961
Age: 57 Years.
Birth place: A community in the Central Arnhem Land in the Northern territory of Australia
located approximately 500 km from Darwin, the capital of the territory in the north-eastern
corner. Mr. A has been recognized as an indigenous person having aboriginal decent.
Family: In the current address he lives with his care giver. His wife has expired 10 years ago
and his only son has become separated and lives with his family at a near place. He has a
sister who visits to his house once in a year.
History of prior life: Mr A was a renowned person in his community. By profession he was
a hunter. He was well known for his extraordinary skill in hunting. Furthermore, he was
famous for playing different musical instruments. Due to his capability of playing different
musical instruments he was renowned in all places in the northern territory and his talent took
him across the sea foe international performance as well.
Life changing event:
In 2006 his son and daughter-in-law decided to become separated. From that time he
became addicted to some substances due to mental stress. One day in 2008 his wife died due
to brain stroke and he became lonely. Since the time he was suffering from severe depression.
The incident of substance abuse become high and one night in 2015 he fell down from the
stairs of his house due to excessive alcohol intake. Research has indicated that substance
abuse is one of the leading social issues in the aboriginal community and most of the health
issues are related to the substance abuse in the population (Whitbeck et al., 2014). The
neighbour of Mr. A has taken him to the nearest health care centre. Injury in his leg and brain
has been found. He became unable to walk without any support. He was diagnosed with
severe brain injury, psychological distress and significant level of cognitive impairment. The
past trauma and the accident have affected his mental health to an extent. After that incident a
dramatic change has occurred in his life.
Impact on individual:
As I mentioned before that due to the accident Mr. A has lost the ability to move and
walk without any support. The accident has made him physically disable. He depends on the

2INDIGENOUS HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
wheelchair to move and his major support is his care giver who stays with him and assists
him in performing daily activities. Due to psychological distress he lacks the ability to
communicate with others. I have faced enormous difficulties to communicate with him in
order to learn about his health history. His reaction during the interview has shown his lack of
interest in interacting with people. Most of the information I have gathered from his care
giver. Due to loneliness and depression he has started to talk with himself. Research has been
identified that burden of injury and disability is one of the main factors that contributes to
psychological distress in the indigenous population (Anderson et al., 2016). 43.8% of
indigenous people are suffering from mental distress due to physical disability (Hawthorne,
Korn & Richardson, 2013). The significant level of cognitive impairment has affected his
memory and ability to think. According to the information provided by the care giver, Mr. A
sometimes denies recognizing his care giver and starts creating chaos. It has been found that
rate of cognitive impairment is 3 to 5 times higher in indigenous people than the non-
indigenous people (Anderson et al., 2016). He has lost his ability to play different
instruments. Detachment with such activities has contributed to his psychological distress as
well. He is dependent on the service provided by the community health care centre. In
Australia, financial support to the mental health service for aboriginals is provided by
Indigenous Australian’s Health Programme (IAHP) and Aboriginal Community Controlled
Health Services (ACCHS) also provides effective service to the people with need
(Health.gov.au, 2018). Such support has helped Mr, A to survive in this condition.
Impact on Family:
Beside the effects of the psychological distress on the health and life of individual it
affects the family as well and reduces the ability of a person to maintain relationships in an
effective manner (Georgaca, 2014). Due to the mental disorder his son has left him with the
care giver and visits his care giver to know about his health condition once in 3 to 6 months.
Mr. A loved to visit his family members, especially his sister. Right now he is unable to visit
them and his mental health condition restricts him to interact properly with the family
members. However, in the present circumstances his care giver has become family member
and he is the only person who communicates with Mr. A and supports him to overcome the
loneliness. His sister comes to visit him once in a year. The smile on his face while talking
about his sister has shown his love for his sister and the need of support from family
members. The health care support has helped him to recover from physical injuries but lack
of support from the family has filled his life with loneliness. I have heard that visiting the
nearest pet club makes him happy and helps him to overcome the loneliness for a certain
period of time.
Impact on Community:
Mr. A was well known for his talent. Detachment from such activities has removed
his existence as a musician from the community. He has faced some discrimination in the
community and became isolated. Research has been indicated that social discrimination and
deprivation in case of people with mental illness is another social issue across the world. Loss
of identity and societal attachment, powerlessness, overt racism and marginalization has been
recognized to play an important role in order to create social discrimination in poor mental
health condition (Ferdinand, Paradies & Kelaher, 2013). The Australian Institute of Health
and welfare has mentioned that due to discrimination in the indigenous community most of
the people experiences mental distress (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018).
Such condition triggers the signs of depression and distress in a person. The rate of suicide

3INDIGENOUS HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
due to social discrimination for the person with mental illness is 3 times higher than general
Australian people (Clifford, Doran & Tsey, 2013). In this case equal loss has occurred for
Mr. A and the society from which he is belonging. Mr. A has lost the ability to perform in
societal activity, thus has lost societal attachment. On the other hand, the community has lost
a talented musician. The story has indicated the lack of access to improved health care service
in the indigenous community. Healthcare service is available but they are not adequate.
People such as Mr. A that lacks support from the family need more support from the
community health care service.
Conclusion:
The health story has revealed the health issues related to psychological distress and its
prevalence in the indigenous community. It has indicated the pain, loneliness and struggle of
a person with psychological distress to survive in the community. The health journey of Mr.
A has justified the impact of such health issue on individual, family and community in an
effective manner. I have learned that family and social support is more important in mental
health issue. I think it is important to improve the health service social welfare in indigenous
community. Such support would help a person like Mr. A to fight and survive in the
community in an effective manner.

4INDIGENOUS HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
References:
Anderson, I., Robson, B., Connolly, M., Al-Yaman, F., Bjertness, E., King, A., ... & Pesantes,
M. A. (2016). Indigenous and tribal peoples' health (The Lancet–Lowitja Institute
Global Collaboration): a population study. The Lancet, 388(10040), 131-157.
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673616003457
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/
Clifford, A. C., Doran, C. M., & Tsey, K. (2013). A systematic review of suicide prevention
interventions targeting indigenous peoples in Australia, United States, Canada and
New Zealand. BMC public health, 13(1), 463. Retrieved from
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-463
Ferdinand, A., Paradies, Y., & Kelaher, M. (2013). Mental health impacts of racial
discrimination in Victorian Aboriginal communities. Lowitja Institute. Retrieved from
http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30058482/paradies-mentalhealthimpacts-2013.pdf
Georgaca, E. (2014). Discourse analytic research on mental distress: A critical
overview. Journal of Mental Health, 23(2), 55-61. Retrieved from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?
doi=10.1.1.1008.7111&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Hawthorne, G., Korn, S., & Richardson, J. (2013). Population norms for the AQoL derived
from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and
Wellbeing. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 37(1), 7-16.
Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1753-6405.12004
Health.gov.au. (2018). [online] Available at:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/2126B045A8DA90FD
CA257F6500018260/$File/6PHN%20Guidance%20-%20ATSI%20Mental%20Health
%20Services.pdf [Accessed 21 Jul. 2018].
Whitbeck, L. B., Hartshorn, K. J. S., Crawford, D. M., Walls, M. L., Gentzler, K. C., & Hoyt,
D. R. (2014). Mental and substance use disorders from early adolescence to young
adulthood among indigenous young people: final diagnostic results from an 8-year
panel study. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 49(6), 961-973.
Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4031267/