An apology to Indigenous communities sparks a mental health rethink
For decades, health care has denied the importance of harmony between people and the planet
By Sujata Gupta
Earlier this year, the leading psychological association in the United States apologized to the country’s Indigenous people and communities for directly and indirectly supporting centuries of abusive assimilation efforts. Those efforts included pushing Indigenous people off their lands and separating children from their families for placement in boarding schools.
The harms of these practices to Indigenous communities are ongoing, the American Psychological Association acknowledged in a report released in February. For instance, culturally inappropriate mental health diagnoses and treatments have exacerbated Indigenous communities’ already disproportionately high rates of mental illness, chronic disease, incarceration and suicide.