Mental health issues affect everyone, but Native American people have higher rates of mental health disorders and face more disparities in getting help than White people. This is due to lack of access to health services resulting from institutional discrimination, interpersonal racism, and cultural stigma — which can harm the psyche of people of color in places where they are not the majority.
Native Americans have higher rates of substance abuse and depression (PDF) in comparison to other races. "American Indians have been through multiple traumas over the last 500 years,” said Jacque Gray, a research associate professor in the University of North Dakota’s department of population health and associate director of the Center for Rural Health for Indigenous programs. They’ve had to abstain from wearing their traditional clothing, eating their traditional foods and speaking their established languages.
Belonging to a minority can come with numerous sources of stress.
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