Follow-up to Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

A very interesting article on minorities, with some good attention on NAI.

Something of interest in the article reads:

American Indians and Alaskan Natives

Words like depression and anxiety do not exist in certain American Indian languages, but the suicide rate for American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) males between the ages of 15 and 24 is two to three times higher than the national rate.

Further, the report notes that wide differences exist within minority groups that are lumped together in statistical analyses and in many aid programs. American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs), for example, include 561 separate tribes with some 200 languages recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

American Indians "are five times more likely to die of alcohol-related causes than whites, but they are less likely to die from cancer and heart disease." The Pima tribe in Arizona, for example, has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world. The incidence of end-stage renal disease, a known complication of diabetes, is higher among American Indians than for both white Americans and African Americans.

Past attempts to eradicate native culture, including forced transfers of youngsters to government-run boarding schools away from their families and homes, have been associated with negative mental health consequences. American Indians and Alaskan Natives are also the most impoverished of today's minority groups. More than one-quarter live in poverty.

Certain DSM diagnoses, such as major depressive disorder, do not correspond directly to the categories of illness recognized by some American Indians.

Four out of five American Indians do not live on reservations, but most of the facilities run by the government's Indian Health Service are located on reservation lands.

One study found higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and long-term alcohol abuse among American Indian veterans of the Vietnam war than among their white American, African American or Japanese American counterparts.

In one study, American Indian youth were found to have rates of psychiatric disorders comparable to their white American counterparts, but "for white children, poverty doubled the risk of mental disorders, whereas poverty was not associated with increased risk of mental disorders among American Indian children." American Indian youngsters were also much more likely to be found suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and substance abuse or substance dependence disorders.

Twenty percent of American Indian elders who were studied in one urban clinic reported significant psychiatric symptoms.

While many AI/ANs prefer ethnically matched providers, only about 101 AI/AN mental health care professionals are available per 100,000 members of this ethnic group, compared with 173 per 100,000 for white Americans. In 1996, only an estimated 29 psychiatrists in the United States were of AI/AN heritage.

As many as two-thirds of AI/ANs continue to use traditional healers, sometimes in combination with mental health care providers.

To read the entire article:

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Anxiety/minorities.asp