Racism's Impact on Mental Health: A Study on Australian Aboriginals

This essay explores the impact of racism on the mental health of Australian Aboriginals, including the effects of direct and indirect discrimination, and provides recommendations for improving their wellbeing.

Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The concept of racial trauma stress stems from exposure to the racist discrimination. It
can generally destroy the sense of self worth and ultimately leads to various mental health
conditions such as depression, chronic stress, high blood level. This trauma can be transfer
from one generation to another generation. The racism not only triggers the psychological
well-being conditions but it can also add obstacle o getting help. Even if an individual can
have access to the therapists, an individual still may encounter the discrimination in between
the wellness care system itself. The major findings here include the research about the
indigenous or Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders people who are suffering from various
mental health issues just because of discrimination or racism. In this, it also includes the
recommendations which should be adopted by the Aboriginal people so as to overcome the
impact of racism and also enhance their wellbeing.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................4
FINDINGS................................................................................................................................4
DISCUSSION...........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................5
RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................5
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Racism is generally defined as the dominion of the people which is based on its
colour that constructs social racial hierarchy which privileges the while people. The word
racism is generally based on ethnicity which is basically a key contributing factor in the onset
of disease. The racism is also responsible for enhancing the health inequalities such as mental
as well as physical in between the indigenous, black as well as the people of colour. In this
essay, it will cover the various aspects of racism which will make impact over the indigenous
or black people. The main purpose of presenting the essay is to determine the effect of racism
on the Australian Aboriginal young people which will make impact over the socio-emotional
wellbeing (Carlson and Frazer, 2020).
FINDINGS
The concept of racism may resemble to the set of attitudes or behaviours and also
trainings which can sustain disparity in the dispersal of the power across cultural racial
groups. Racism is an oppression of particular cultural racial group which is usually liked to
maintain the privileges of others, nurturing as well as prolonging the social inequalities. It can
be detected through structural as well as historical disparities among socioeconomic pointers.
The racism is a pervasive experience in the life of the Aboriginals Australians which begins
in the childhood. It may compromise the well-being as well as affects developmental paths.
The major impact of racism on the cultural racial minorities of wellbeing and wellness that
can make it a public wellness problem as well as a central component of the political agenda
across nation (Dai and et. al., 2021).
The Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander peoples are generally subjected to direct as
well as indirect the racial discrimination or racism. In this, the direct racial discrimination
consists a meaning in which the people are treated less fairly than others in a same situation
just because of their race, colour as well as cultural background. The people of Aboriginals
and Torres Strait Islander generally suffer from direct discrimination on daily basis on a wide
range of circumstances. The situations from which the Aboriginals usually suffers such as
when the agents refuse to rent their homes, the pubs refuse to serve people just because the
people are from Aboriginals just because of racism. In context with indirect discrimination of
racism, it is more obscure. It includes the systematic discrimination where the policy contains
the rules regarding the way of treating people are same but it can also contain an unfair effect.
In this, its unfair effect includes the people of a specific race, cultural background, colour
than others just because they are unable to comply with the rules (Khajehei and Doherty,
2018).
In context with Aboriginals and Torres Islanders, the concept of racism can make
impact over an individual’s health such as can affect the mental state. The mental health
conditions here include such as depression, drug abuse, post traumatic stress disorder and
suicidal thoughts. These situations can occur in number of various ways such as distressing
symptoms that usually can arise as a direct outcome of the racist happenings like hate speech.
It can also occur as an indirect outcome of the border disparities. Moreover, the racism can
also make impact over the physical wellness and racism can twice as likely to impact the
mental wellbeing than the physical wellbeing of an individual (Dockery, 2020).
.

DISCUSSION
The discussion here includes about the Aboriginal people or indigenous people is that
racism has debilitating impact over the people and devaluing their cultural pride as well as
identity. It also makes an antagonistic impact over their physical as well as mental well-
being. In this, the discussion here includes that racism and discrimination are connected to a
wide range of antagonistic wellness situations among the Aboriginals or indigenous people.
These effects may include high level of psychological distress as well as low self-assessed
wellness conditions (Hossain and Lamb, 2019).
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above study that racism serves as a significant obstacle to
available healthcare for peoples of First Nations. It generally attempts to mention this
systemic issue that have been fallen short. In addition to this, the social determinants of
wellness are particularly moving the given socio-political-economic history of invasion of
racist performs in Australian health care. Moreover, the current healthcare services are
culturally quite unsafe for the Aboriginals and Torres Islanders. In this people who are forced
to negotiate the wellness services where the racism is experienced at both of the institutional
as well as interpersonal levels. It is analysed from the above study that the racism makes a
powerful impact over the indigenous people which is socially as well as culturally both.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The recommendations here include for Aboriginals and Torres Islander people or
indigenous people that the public should equally treat the indigenous people about everything
such as from house rent to the serve in a pub. The recommendations here also include that
provide enough education or knowledge to the Aboriginals and Torres Islanders people about
racism, what exactly it is and also make them aware that they should take care of themselves
and let them understand that they are not a problem. This can eventually increase the
wellbeing of the Aboriginal peoples as well as decreases the impact of racism over the mental
health conditions (Ibrahim, 2017).

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