Journal Article

FEDERAL STATUTORY RESPONSIBILITY AND THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS

Slaton, Abilene

2016

Overview

[...]in Part I, this comment will consider the problems mental illness poses for American Indians before demonstrating that the legislature, the courts, and the federal government must take action to minimize the troubling effects posed by native communities' lacking mental health care infrastructure. [...]Part IV will suggest possible approaches for improving mental health care for American Indians and using the current statutes to aid American Indian communities in their mental health needs, along with a proposed revision to the statutory scheme to provide for more effective implementation and enforcement. Mental Illness Prevalence and Severity American Indians suffer from most mental disorders in rates similar to the population of the entire United States, despite the fact that recent research indicates that native populations experience much more psychological distress.12 Furthermore, Indians suffer from certain disorders at a higher rate than the population does generally, for example, American Indian populations have extremely high rates of suicide, unemployment, and poverty.13 These problems also place native populations at greater risk for certain mental health disorders14 than the general population.15 Specifically, American Indians suffer significantly from anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and depression.16 In the general population of the United States, about one in four adults will experience mental illness in any given year.17 Suicide, in particular, is the tenth leading cause of death, though it ranks third for individuals between the ages fifteen and twenty-four years old.18 Among American Indian populations, however, the numbers are even more alarming. \"36 Though the percent of health care providers offering actual mental health care services is lower by number, there are constant efforts to strengthen this number in an attempt to better provide for the nation's population.37 For example, in 2012 and 2013, a \"Behavioral Health Integration Learning Community\" was started in an effort to address the needs of health care centers that were not yet providing mental health care services. 38 The Administration is placing extra emphasis on the integration of mental health into the facilities and systems lacking mental health care options.39 In addition, in the United States

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma
• Subject: Alcoholism / American Indians / Anxiety / Death & dying / Domestic violence / Drug abuse / Federal government / Health services / Intersectionality / Learning / Mental depression / Mental disorders / Mental health care / Multiculturalism & pluralism / Native North Americans / Population / Post traumatic stress disorder / Stereotypes / Suffering / Websites