Mental Health Awareness Among Australian Aboriginals Presentation 2022

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
AMONG AUSTRALIAN
ABORIGINALS

About Mental Health
It is psychological or behavioural
dysfunction that affects the
person’s interaction with the
outside world..
According to World Health
Organization, around 450 million
people around the globe suffer
from it (World Health Organization,
2019).
The goal of this presentation is to

Indigenous Australian: Mental
Health
Health provider of Torres islander
communities once advised to stop
using the words “ram ram” for
denoting mental illness to community
members.
The mental health statics has risen by
33% in 2014-15(Jorm, & Bourchier,
2012).
The hospitalization rate due to
intentional self-harm has risen by 56%

Mental Health: History
According to Historical evidences
Aboriginals led a healthy and happy
lifestyle.
Colonisation by British from 1788 had
disrupted their lifestyle.
Marginalisation, wide-scale poverty and
policies such as “stolen generation” had
caused intergenerational psychological
trauma(Brown & Scales, 2012).

SYMPTOMS
Social Isolation
Hopelessness
Anxiety
Vague thoughts
Fatigue

Causes
Cultural loss
Lack of economic Opportunities
Cruel policies
High rate of addiction
High-scale discrimination

Negative impact
Increase in the rate of domestic violence.
Low productivity.
High unemployment.
Increase in health problems.
High suicide rates (The department of
health Australian government, 2013)

Taboo related to Mental
Health
Supernatural element.
Punishment of sins from God
Insanity
Black magic

Steps Taken By Australian Government
to cure mental health problems
Awareness programs
Counselling Hubs.
Doctors on Visit
Health camps

Conclusion
Mental health is a wide-spread issue among
aboriginal communities.
The old belief system poses a problem in its
recovery.
Mental illness is the prime cause of low
productivity among the population.
Discrimination is the major cause of mental
trauma

Bibliography
Austrailain Indigenious Healthinfonet, 2019. Depression and other mood
disorders. [Online]
Available at: https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/learn/health-topics/social-and-
emotional-wellbeing/depression-and-other-mood-disorders/
[Accessed 25 August 2019].
Brown, A. & Scales, U., 2012. Exploring the expression of depression and
distress in aboriginal men in central Australia: a qualitative study. BMC
Psychiatry, 12(2), pp. 12-97.
Jorm,, A. . F. & Bourchier, . S. . J., 2012. Mental health of Indigenous
Australians. The Medical Journal of Australia, 196(2), pp. 118-112.
The department of health Australian government, 2013. Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander suicide: origins, trends and incidence. [Online]
Available at:
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/
mental-natsisps-strat-toc~mental-natsisps-strat-1~mental-natsisps-strat-1-ab
[Accessed 25 August 2019].
World Health Organization, 2019. Mental disorders affect one in four people.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/
[Accessed 25 August 2019].