Non-Hispanic American Indian and Native American (AI/AN) adults and children are at greater risk than all other racial groups of experiencing poor mental health outcomes and unmet medical and mental healthcare needs. For instance, suicide rates for AI/AN adults and youth are higher than the national average.
For native people, cultural differences play a crucial role in this gap as well as in the misdiagnosis. An accurate assessment is not possible without intimate knowledge of another culture; such knowledge cannot always be learned in the present educational systems, many of which do not share the same historical accounts or knowledge tribal systems have been teaching for thousands of years.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) states that understanding a culture means comprehending and applying that culture’s beliefs, ceremonial rituals, and customs. With the Native American culture, this would not be possible without the actual time and tutelage of an American Indian or First Nations Healer and Spiritual Person, who would be most qualified to provide the appropriate expertise. In order for native-serving providers to meet the standards set forth in the DSM-5, they must learn from outside of the Western medical education system.
Few mental health diagnostic tools, assessments, or treatments have been studied in AI/AN communities. For instance, few mental health treatment models apply spiritual phenomena—such as spirits, ghosts, or healing—but this is an area common within Native American tribes.
Read more on NPA-RHEC.org.