Preview

Key Cause Of Metal Health Issues In Aboriginal People

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
328 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Key Cause Of Metal Health Issues In Aboriginal People
Metal health issues in Aboriginal peoples are all strongly tied to the process of colonialism and impact of displacement from land, family, loss of culture and traditional practices, hence this disconnect from spiritual, cultural and physical heritage led to disempowerment of many Aboriginal peoples and subsequently results in the maladaptive behaviours such as substance abuse, alcoholism, suicide and interpersonal violence (Alfred, 2009). Similarly, colonial experiences have led to the mistrust of the dominating western culture, also the loss of cultural continuity, hiding cultural beliefs and practices have led to feelings of alienation, shame and despair influencing the mental health of generations of Aboriginal people (Howard, 2010). …show more content…
(2012) the residential School System disrupted family and community structures, and set in motion a cycle of trauma manifesting in numerous metal health issues with high reports of depression, abuse, suicide, family violence particularly targeted towards women and children, and other related behaviours among survivors. The residential school syndrome is a key cause of metal health issues among Aboriginal people and it is a form of post traumatic stress disorder experienced by survivors and descendants of the residential school system due to sexual and physical abuse as well as the emotional and psychological trauma of displacement and separation from the community, culture and family (Douglas, 2014, p.204). This associates with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) in Aboriginal people and has similar underlying risk factors and primarily occurs due to social isolation, family history of alcohol, reduced prenatal and postnatal care services access that influences prenatal exposure to drugs, smoking and alcohol (Douglas, 2014,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The fur traders (Europeans) believe they were helping the tribes by supplying them with these tools and trinkets but actually were adding fuel to the fire. Tribes now began fight amongst each other plus adding on to the fact that they now have weapons, that didn’t help with the death ratio. Because of the want for these new tools, it changed the aboriginal’s way of life. They began harvesting animals at a faster rate driving some close to extinction which was not exactly in the original beliefs. Aboriginal’s people had survived for thousands of years by maintaining nature’s balance and their harmony with the land. But now with the wants and needs for these fascinating objects like tools , they drove themselves to pretty much chaos. They had to learn to adapt to the Europeans coming into their home…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    They placed children under the care of Europeans because they thought this would mean “advancing” the aboriginal children. However, many Aborigines are still searching for their children, mothers and other family members. Through this forced separation many aboriginal people have struggled in life, experienced low-self esteem, feeling of worthlessness, social dysfunction, high rates of unemployment and ongoing health issues. This loss if identity can result in depression and other mental illness (Creative Spirit…

    • 1625 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reports from Indigenous offenders identify alcohol as a contributing factors in their violent assaults (Jayaraj, Ah Kit, Thompson & Spencer, 2010). Substance abuse has also been linked to increase in risk of child neglect and abuse (Weatherburn &…

    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Neglect Case Studies

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This term as the Department of Health states “describe the issues of domestic violence, mental ill-health and substance misuse which have been identified as common features of families where harm to women and children has occurred. They are viewed as indicators of increased risk of harm and neglect to children and young people.” (2014: 4). Work in this area has shown that there is a large overlap between these parental risk factors and cases of child death, serious injury and generally poorer outcomes for children across all ages (Brandon et al, 2008). As the serious case review by Hall (2013) shows, all of these risk factors were present in the case of Daniel Pelka. Statistics suggest that Daniels case is by no means a rarity. 1,796,244 children in England live in households where there is a risk of domestic violence. 250,000 to 978,000 children have a parent who misuses drugs, and more than 2 million children are affected by parental mental ill-health (Jütte, S. et al 2015). Statistics also suggests a strong comorbidity of these problems. As this report undertaken by the Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse shows “a clear co-occurrence between the ‘toxic trio’ risk factors of domestic abuse, substance misuse (alcohol and/or drugs) and parental mental ill health. Nearly a third of mothers (31%) and a third of fathers (32%) in these families experiencing domestic abuse disclosed either mental health…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Holistic approach to Indigenous health should include spiritual, physical, cultural, emotional and social wellbeing. To partake in holistic care it requires an intimate knowledge of the community and health problems they may be experiencing, then providing the most efficient and appropriate way to address the main health concerns. Holistic care entails a number of key components that look at the different roles and health outcomes. This includes the considerations of the broader determinants of health and the significance of community leadership and the personal information of patients that are required by health care workers. A holistic approach to health is greatly called upon to close the persistent health gaps as it looks at the person…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    however the overarching determinant on a structural level that continues to oppress Aboriginal children is racism. Racism is correlated and entrenched within the history of Australia, starting from the time of colonisation (Priest, Mackean, Davis, Waters, & Briggs, 2012). Griffiths, Coleman, Lee, & Madden (2016) describes that social injustice occurs in the context of colonisation which is to forcibly takeover Indigenous people’s land without any respect to their laws and rights. Furthermore, for the Indigenous community, health isn’t just about being physically immune from diseases, but rather health is seen as a holistic notion that is achieved through the wellbeing of the land, the community and spirit. The colonisation process however separated them from this holistic wellbeing and its implications are manifested through various health related issues in children and youth (Griffiths, Coleman, Lee, & Madden, 2016). In a study done with parents perspective on their children’s experiences with racism, one parent named Bob emphasised that Aboriginal people cope with day to day survival dude to colonisation that has resulted in the diminishing of majority of the Aboriginal community in South East Australia. Other parent’s responded that colonisation has negatively influenced the self-esteem on their children in regards to how they saw themselves in respect to others…

    • 1994 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been many different efforts in aiding Aboriginal communities to decrease their insanely high rates of addiction problems. Two approaches that are promising in aiding Aboriginal communities with addressing their addiction behaviours and related problems are healing on the community level and cultural level. The first approach being community-based healing is one promising perspective in supporting Aboriginal communities with their addiction problems and substance uses. The majority of times, treatment for addiction and substance uses are located at far residential addictions facilities (Jiwa, Kelly, & Pierre-Hansen, 2008). Therefore, healing and treatments on a community level are effective alternatives to these hard to reach treatment facilities and make it so that people do not need to leave their remote communities in order to receive treatments.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dd Alternate Hypothesis

    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It can impact you in childhood and adulthood and comes in the form of any life-threatening event such as; tornado, fire, natural disaster, death, car accident, abuse, neglect, threatening illness, domestic violence among many other things and can occur at home, in the community and in schools (Mulvihill, 2005). Trauma can be something that happens to you directly or witnessed by you and carries a lasting emotional setback. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves symptoms that persist for a month or longer after the initial traumatic experience (Brady, Beck & Coffey, 2 use). When exploring the relationship between PTSD and substance use disorders (SUDs) similarities and differences were found among gender persons reporting substance abuse issues. In this study, the data revealed men with PTSD were 5 times more likely and women with PTSD were 1.4 times as likely to abuse substances with the most common trauma from PTSD and SUD involved sexual and/or physical abuse, with emotional abuse and neglect being second (Brady et al. (2004). Most reported experiencing multiple traumas across the lifespan. Ouimette, Read, and Brown (2005) studied 120 patients seeking in-patient SUD treatment upon admission and discharge from private university-affiliated hospital. Patients were measured for exposure to traumatic events in seven categories: family violence, serious disaster, sudden death of loved one, physical assault,…

    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aboriginal Patriarchy

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Aboriginal women, the center of this victimization face abusive relationships and households on an every day basis. According to “Racism, Sexism, and Colonialism: The Impact on the Health of Aboriginal Women in Canada” eight out of ten Aboriginal women reported victimization by physical, sexual, psychological, or ritual abuse (Bourassa, McNabb & Hampton, 2005). This rate is twice as high as that reported by non-Aboriginal women (Bourassa, McNabb & Hampton, 2005). Within a family structure, this traumatic intimate partner violence also tends to escalate when factoring in the epidemic of substance abuse within indigenous communities. In pursuit of economically exploiting aboriginal communities, European settlers also introduced drugs and alcohol to indigenous communities. Essentially, the goal was to paralyze the community, so there would be minimal resistance or no form conscious awareness of the exploitative activity-taking place. Often times these drugs and alcohol later fostered a dependency within indigenous communities, as a result of the abuse and trauma caused by residential schools,. This dependency usually surrounded the attempt to alleviate the pains experienced and inflicted upon victims of residential schooling. Today, within families, this dependency tends to…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Health of today’s Indigenous Australians is burdened with chronic and communicable disease, infant mortality and morbidity, substance misuse, poor nutrition, emotional distress, increased hospitalization, lower levels of access to health care, and are at a greater socio-economic disadvantage than other Australians. This has become a national health priority as the decline in health in Indigenous Australians has led to a more than seventeen year gap in life expectancy than other Australians.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cultural Competence

    • 1572 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Westerman, T. (2004). The value of unique service provision for Aboriginal people- the benefits of starting from scratch. The Mental Health Services. (Sep.1-3) Conference Inc. of Australia and New…

    • 1572 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Aboriginal Health

    • 2981 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The health of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compared to the non-Indigenous population is significantly poorer (Wieland 2014, p. 12). The “Closing the Gap” campaign aims to create generational Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality (Wieland 2014, p. 12). This essay will discuss the Aboriginal And Torres Strait health reforms, factors that impact on their health and wellbeing and strategies that allow protection against adversity. This essay will also discuss examples of childhood services available, targeted interventions to improve health and wellbeing in their early years and rationales and actions the Registered Nurse can use to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families when providing health care. Approaches to communication, examples of how the nurse can work collaboratively with families and health care professionals and how to ensure health care is compatible with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders concept of family will also be discussed in this essay.…

    • 2981 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Suicide In Canada Essay

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages

    However, Indigenous scholars have long suggested that any discussions related to health disparities among First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples be framed within the context of colonization, including the intergenerational trauma resulting from the residential school experience and child welfare systems (Blackstock, 2011; King et al., 2009) Their contribution has been through multiple mechanisms, including at the individual, family, community and societal levels. Survivors and their families experience shame and deeply rooted mistrust and anger (Christian & Spittal, 2008). Furthermore, cultural identities were eroded through this systematic approach to assimilation, which has lead to a loss of language, tradition and connectedness, and has resulted in isolation, marginalization, family breakdown and poor coping mechanisms for many Indigenous peoples in Canada (Loppie-Reading & Wein,…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aboriginal Family Violence

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In recent weeks in mainstream media there have been lots of commentary on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the appalling rate of Aboriginal men and women in incarceration as a direct result of family violence, drug and alcohol issues, Intergenerational trauma and other more serious offences.…

    • 1123 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Substance abuse is a topic most prefer not to discuss; it destroys lives, relationships and families all over the world. Native Americans seem to have suffered immensely by it. Since the coming of the Englishmen and the introduction of new knowledge and tools Native people have been trying to hold on to their own culture and their own way of life. Unfortunately with them came new items for consumption, alcohol was one of the main ingredients to the internal downfall of Native populations. Native American populations suffer greatly due to the ongoing epidemic of substance abuse and dependence; some things are being done about the problems people are having but in the end will it be enough to heal a nation? To open this paper I will look at rates of substance abuse and or dependence among Aboriginal populations. Second I will show the destructive nature in one individual, single person that suffers substance abuse can have in their life and the reasons perhaps why they choose to live as such. I will then illustrate the consequences it has for an entire family, should they remain a whole entity. Next we will look at the effects drugs and alcohol on younger generations and what ages are getting involved today. After I will show the effects of following generations, whether the children of such addict choose to continue the abuse or if they decide they want better for themselves and their own children. Lastly who is responsible for the suffering; what group of people should be held accountable for the widespread illness of substance abuse among Native peoples, and what is being done today to help those sick recover.…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays