Indigenous mental health: the limits of medicalised solutions

Abstract

Objective: The excess burden of mental disorders experienced by Indigenous Australians is complexly overdetermined. Social and political factors contributing to the intransigence of vulnerability are reviewed, and the wider arena of neoliberal political change considered. Conclusions: The dynamic relationship between disadvantage and mental health vulnerability requires that practitioners should be attuned to both the ‘big picture’ and ‘modest and practical ways’ to contribute to reducing the developmental embedding of social disadvantage and transgenerational vulnerability.