Mental Health Issues in Indigenous People

This essay critically analyzes the mental health issues faced by indigenous people, including aetiological factors and evidence-based nursing interventions. It discusses the impact of medical disability, social factors, socio-demographic factors, and health factors on mental health. The essay also explores the IMMHC model and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as culturally sensitive interventions. Overall, it emphasizes the need for awareness, education, and support for mental health in the indigenous community.

Mental Health Essay

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Critically Analysis of Contemporary Literature ........................................................................3
Aetiological factors relating to the mental illness in Indigenous people...................................4
Evidence-based culturally sensitive nursing intervention...........................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
It is essential for each and every person to pay more attention on their mental healthy
because most of the people mainly focused on their physical health and they ignore their mental
health. It is important to spread some awareness about the mental health. Aboriginal Australian
are considered as the different indigenous people that belong to the Australia and most of the
people from the Island like Tasmania, Torres strait and Tiwi Islanders. Most of the people follow
collective community approach to maintain their health regularly. People are aware about their
health and they also consider some specific knowledge related to the health still some people are
facing many diseases. Indigenous Australian people faced lots of diseases various time as
compared to the non indigenous Australian people. As per the mental health diseases and
cardiovascular diseases people are experiencing many health issues. The main motive of this
report is to discuss about the mental health issues of the indigenous people some people are
hospitalised twice as compared to the non indigenous people. This report also critically analysed
the contemporary literature & also explain five aetiological factors that mainly related to the
mental diseases of the indigenous people. Moreover, this report determine the cultural sensitive
nursing related internation that implement when these people work with the indigenous
consumers those facing mental health related issues.
MAIN BODY
Critically Analysis of Contemporary Literature
According to the Kayley Butten (2020) , revealed that most of the indigenous people are facing
the mental health disorder at least twice as compared to the non indigenous Australian people.
These people are taking the high pressure of mental health and they also suffered with the
various mental disorder. As per the nursing care, it is analysed that the mental health disorder
rate increasing rapidly. It also provide the adverse impact on the younger people health of the
local community of the indigenous people of the Australia (Akama, Hagen and Whaanga-
Schollum, 2019). These people are experiencing the high risk of the mental health disease which
affect their life style negatively.

Aetiological factors relating to the mental illness in Indigenous people
The description of various aetiological factors that are related to the mental health illness
of the Australian indigenous people are given below- Medical disability related factors – It is a facts that both physical and mental health are
correlated and it provide the negative impact on the health of the people. Mental
disability also affect the health of the people. It is analysed that physical inappropriate
condition affect the mental health directly so it is essential for the people to take care
about their mental and physical health both. Medical conditions also interrelated with the
negative health. Various medical related issues such as HBP, stoke, morbidity and
diabetes are responsible to increase the high distress rate of the people. Indigenous people
are facing the high distress issues which affect their mental health. Medical condition of
the indigenous people taking the massive place and it also affect their living. Distress
condition mainly incorporated with the low level of mental and physical health and it is
determined that the physical and mental ability of the indigenous people become low.
Most of the people are experiencing the mental disability which also affect people
physical functioning (Al-Yaman, 2017). Social factor- As the another major factor which mainly affect the health of the person is
social factor. As Australian indigenous people and there social culture use to effect the
health of the person so much. As being analysed that there are certain reason s and the
areas through which this is being attained. The consumption of alcohol and drugs are
nowadays being seen as the trend in all. It is being analysed that teenagers and all the
adults even after being affected through it are merely being seen. Even after the strict
rules and the guidelines people are still trying to impact and take all the drugs in there
daily basis and this imparts to effect there daily lifestyle and attain to maintain the
temporal trend (Bartram and Stewart, 2019). The young generation is also between
affected by all such trends and consumption of drugs which thereby leads to make there
body much weaker in the early age and effect there nature of working and there mental
health too. The education career is also being made affected through all those
consumptions and it has a major and the overriding role in all the nature of the work. Socio- demographical factors related with distress - It is analysed that in the mental
health of the people, socio-demographic factors also involved which provide the adverse

impact on the health of the people. These factors directly influence the psychological
distress that mainly involved the gender, culture, age, religion, education and social status
of the people. Some socio-demographic factors considered like poor employment rate,
lack of socio economical practices, social differences and aboriginal elements affect the
mental health of the people (Brackertz, Wilkinson and Davison, 2018). On the basis of
Australian Bureau of statistics 2006 index of relative socio-economic Disadvantage
(IRSD) contain the education, employment. Income , expenses , marital status and other
factors are involved which can create the mental pressure and affect the mental health of
the indigenous people. Lack of education qualification affect the behaviour of the people
and they do not have appropriate knowledge and awareness about the importance of
healthy environment and they usually avoid their mental issues There are some programs
and policies are running so that indigenous people can gain some health related
knowledge and perceived good education. Some social service programs provide the free
of cost education to the people and also give them good employment opportunities so that
indigenous people can effectively improve their health.
 Health factors- As in order to maintain the nature and the accord there has been seen that
all the person should try to impose a better lifestyle. As in order to maintain the growth
and the culture and is as to frame out to maintain a healthy life the person has to be
physically and mentally fit. The daily diets and all the intake of proper and healthy fruits
and vegetables are the main and the important factors (Chmielowska and Fuhr, 2017).
This implicates that all the nature and the culture through which the person in order to
frame a healthy nature should take enough sleep. The person at the teenage are merely
use to be unhealthy and it depicts out that all the nature and the sleeping cycle. All the
adults nowadays are trying to take lack of sleep and some unhealthy diets. This his being
attained that in vary nature it is the main recourse. So all the improvement and the
healthy diets of the person is to be personalised. And the intake of water and fresh food
supplements and the fruits are important for all the person. The indigenous community
and the person being affected by the mental illness are needed to collect and maintain the
health in proper measure (Kidd, 2020).

Evidence-based culturally sensitive nursing intervention
On the basis of the current scenario, mental health become the main concern of the
people. This report identify various factors which are mainly related to the mental health and
their service (León-Pérez, 2019). It is important for the indigenous people to pay more attention
on their mental health. In respect of the mental health service for the Australian indigenous
people mental health , some effective cultural evidence nursing intervention are involved
IMMHC that analyse the impact of mental health and also maintain the mental health related
services in indigenous heath care sector. As per the analysis of the Australia indigenous
population the mental health related issues contain 16%. IMMHC can help to improve the
condition of the indigenous people and also increase the mental health care related intervention
As per the outcome of the intervention, it is analysed that all the mental care services available
but not fully sufficient as per the need of the indigenous people. IMMHC – This is a most famous Australian indigenous model of health care that was
mainly proposed to maintain and manage the services related to the mental health care
and internation so that indigenous people can resolve their mental issues. This model
mainly involve the specific documentation & deliver the good health care practices that
created by the specialist psychiatrists that can help good treatment to the people . In this
intervention, psychologist mainly get weekly cultural & clinical facilities to the people
and also provide the video- taping sessions (Muller, 2020).
 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy ( CBT ) - This psychotherapy contain some specific
elements which is related to the coaching, teaching, guiding and reinforcing the positive
behaviour of the people. This therapy can help to recognise the cognitive patters and
emotion that connected with the people behaviour. This therapy developed by the Aaron
Beck that was a famous psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic which is the outcome of the
depression research (Poon and Lee, 2019). On the basis of Aaron Beck, some
measurement of the depressed people demonstrate that they had consider the negative
bias in the interpretation of the life vents that lead the cognitive distortions. This model
mainly based on the thinking of the people. This model take more time and there are
three kind of the CBT which can help in the mental health of the indigenous people.
These three kind of CBT like cognitive behavioural training, stress inoculation training

& moral re-conation therapy. Most of the people consider the psychological-based
therapy as a treatment.
Some other factors involved in the mental health related issues Stolen generation – Stolen generation consider the aboriginal & Torres strait islander
children that mainly removed their families in the year 1910 to 1970. This is mainly
contain by the Australian federal & state of government related agencies , through policy
of the assimilation (Ramírez, 2017).It can contain the removal of the children broke
culture, spiritual & families lies and left the intergenerational affect on their living &
well-being the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander related people (Warbrick, Came and
Dickson, 2019). Loss of identity – This factor also affect the mental health of the people. This factor
affect the whole living of the people can they are feel less valuable and it affect their
mental health adversely. Some time indigenous people are facing this problem and they
take big burden of their loss of identity which affect their mental health. Racism & discrimination – This factor also responsible to affect the mental health of the
people. Indigenous people also experience high level of racism and they also
discriminated in the society so this factor affect their mental health negatively (Yazd,
Wheeler and Zuo, 2020)
 Unemployment – Due to unemployment, most of the people can face adverse
circumstances which affect their living. Unemployed people are mainly experienced
mental issues because they do not have enough money to spend their life happily. This is
also a big reason which influence the mental health of the people negatively.
CONCLUSION
As per this report it can be concluded that mental health is taking the massive place in
everyone life and it is essential to pay more attention to the mental health so that people can
easily prevent themselves from the worst impact of the mental disorder and issues. Australian
indigenous community experienced the high rate of mental problems so it is prominent to focus
on the mental health care related services and spread awareness about the mental health so that
indigenous people can start to gain health care related knowledge. This report discussed about
some factors which affect the mental health of the indigenous people such as socio-demographic
factors, medical condition disability factors, health and social factors ,unemployment and

discrimination related factor that negatively affect the mental health of the indigenous people. It
is essential to provide them good education , healthy environment and so that people can take
healthy diet and reduce bad habit like smoking, drinking etc. poor socio-demographic factors and
education can increase the mental health rate. This report also discussed about the specific
intervention and model like IMMHC that is considered as the most prominent indigenous model
that can help to maintain the health and provide the effective health care services to the
Australian indigenous people. This report explain about the Cognitive behavioural therapy that
mainly contain the psychotherapeutic treatment that is useful to recognise the change of
descriptive thinking.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akama, Y., Hagen, P. and Whaanga-Schollum, D., 2019. Problematizing replicable design to
practice respectful, reciprocal, and relational co-designing with indigenous
people. Design and Culture..
Al-Yaman, F., 2017. The Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and
death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 2011. Public Health Res
Pract, 27(4), p.e2741732.
Bartram, M. and Stewart, J.M., 2019. Income-based inequities in access to psychotherapy and
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Brackertz, N., Wilkinson, A. and Davison, J., 2018. Housing, homelessness and mental health:
towards systems change. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Chmielowska, M. and Fuhr, D.C., 2017. Intimate partner violence and mental ill health among
global populations of Indigenous women: a systematic review. Social psychiatry and
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Kidd, M.R., 2020. Five principles for pandemic preparedness: lessons from the Australian
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León-Pérez, G., 2019. Internal migration and the health of Indigenous Mexicans: A longitudinal
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Muller, L., 2020. A theory for Indigenous Australian health and human service work:
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Poon, A.W.C. and Lee, J.S., 2019. Carers of people with mental illness from culturally and
linguistically diverse communities. Australian Social Work, 72(3), pp.312-324.
Ramírez, M., 2017. Psychology of the Americas: Mestizo perspectives on personality and mental
health (Vol. 126). Elsevier.
Warbrick, I., Came, H. and Dickson, A., 2019. The shame of fat shaming in public health:
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Yazd, S.D., Wheeler, S.A. and Zuo, A., 2020. Understanding the impacts of water scarcity and
socio-economic demographics on farmer mental health in the Murray-Darling
Basin. Ecological Economics, 169, p.106564.