Summary
‘Indigenous peoples’ across the globe suffer a disproportionate burden of mental illness. However, this burden is not fully explored in India despite having the second largest absolute concentration of indigenous peoples in the world. We did a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey in indigenous populations from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in South India. Symptoms suggestive of psychological distress were reported by 39.9% participants. Being alone, tobacco use, hypertension, hypertension in family member, and violent conflict in household were independently associated with psychological distress. More epidemiological studies need to be conducted to map the burden and elaborate the relationships between mental health problems and socio-cultural factors in indigenous populations in India.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the indigenous communities (the Irulas and the Kurumbas) for their support and cooperation that made this study possible. It was our collaboration with Cornell University that made this study possible. We would like to thank Professor Rebecca J. Stoltzfus, previously with Cornell University, and Snehlata Nath and Sharanya Das (Keystone Foundation) for their support and guidance in designing the study. We would also like to thank Keystone Foundation programme staff and field staff in helping with the data collection.
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Nadkarni, A., Vasudevan, P. & Krishnakumar, J. Symptoms of psychological distress reported by women from indigenous communities in South India: implications for methodology and future studies. Arch Womens Ment Health 25, 667–670 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-022-01215-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-022-01215-x