Colonization drives silence and inequities in men’s mental illness Sarah K. McKenzie, Michael Roguski and Susanna Every-Palmer
By: McKenzie, Sarah K
.
Contributor(s): Roguski, Michael | Every-Palmer, Susanna.
Material type: 
ArticleSeries: Nature Mental Health.Publisher: Nature, 2023Subject(s): COLONISATION | HAUORA HINENGARO | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES | IWI TAKETAKE | MĀORI | MEN | MENTAL HEALTH | RANGAHAU MĀORI | TAIPŪWHENUATANGA | TĀNE | TE AO MĀORI | NEW ZEALANDOnline resources: DOI: 10.1038/s44220-023-00113-0
In:
Nature Mental Health, 2023, 1: 609Summary: In a Comment in Nature Mental Health, (Ogrodniczuk et al., 2023) call for action to address the silence surrounding men’s mental illness through collective societal efforts to re-shape cultural norms, reduce stigma and normalize help-seeking. We extend on this by emphasizing that the downstream effects of colonization also need to be recognized as drivers of silence and persistent and unremitting inequities in Indigenous men.
Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Canada and the USA are nations that share the experience of being settler colonial countries. Indigenous men in these countries present some of the highest suicide rates globally, with poorer mental health outcomes than non-Indigenous men2. For example, Māori men in Aotearoa are more likely to use mental health services, present higher rates of hospitalization for mental disorders and are four times more likely to be treated by mental health services under involuntary treatment legislation compared with non-Māori men3. However, these inequities have only emerged since the 1970s, deriving from the oppression of Māori people through land confiscation, economic deprivation, mass European immigration, cultural marginalization, forced social change and structural racism over successive generations. (Article preview). Record #8545
Nature Mental Health, 2023, 1: 609
In a Comment in Nature Mental Health, (Ogrodniczuk et al., 2023) call for action to address the silence surrounding men’s mental illness through collective societal efforts to re-shape cultural norms, reduce stigma and normalize help-seeking. We extend on this by emphasizing that the downstream effects of colonization also need to be recognized as drivers of silence and persistent and unremitting inequities in Indigenous men.
Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Canada and the USA are nations that share the experience of being settler colonial countries. Indigenous men in these countries present some of the highest suicide rates globally, with poorer mental health outcomes than non-Indigenous men2. For example, Māori men in Aotearoa are more likely to use mental health services, present higher rates of hospitalization for mental disorders and are four times more likely to be treated by mental health services under involuntary treatment legislation compared with non-Māori men3. However, these inequities have only emerged since the 1970s, deriving from the oppression of Māori people through land confiscation, economic deprivation, mass European immigration, cultural marginalization, forced social change and structural racism over successive generations. (Article preview). Record #8545
