Mental Health Issues among Indigenous People: A Global Perspective

Abstract

There are about 476 million indigenous people worldwide, representing around 5,000 cultures. Globally, the people of indigenous communities face a lot of challenges like illegal land dispossession, displacement, climate change, unemployment, and physical illnesses, which increase the risk of developing mental health issues among them. There is a lack of community-specific research in identifying the unique challenges of indigenous people and their effective solutions. The present systematic analysis is an attempt to identify the major mental health issues faced by indigenous people worldwide through the lens of various research works. The article also attempts to unearth various strategies that can improve mental health and well-being. Various search engines like, Elsevier, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Springer, PubMed, etc. were utilized for the systematic review analysis. A total number of 790 articles were initially identified, out of which 80 articles (since the 1990s) were selected for the full-text review. The review analysis revealed that worldwide indigenous people encounter many mental health issues, among which depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm behavior, anxiety, stress, substance abuse and PTSD are prominent. For preventing mental illness among the indigenous communities, there is a need for a multifaceted therapeutic model to address their cultural values, practices and community-specific needs, which will, in turn, help them to enhance their overall health and well-being.