Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Alice Springs Hospital, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.
BMC Psychiatry. 2012 Aug 1;12:97. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-12-97.
Despite being at heightened risk of developing mental illness, there has been little research into the experience of depression in Australian Aboriginal populations. This study aimed to outline the expression, experience, manifestations and consequences of emotional distress and depression in Aboriginal men in central Australia.
Utilizing a grounded theory approach, in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 theoretically sampled young, middle aged and senior Aboriginal men and traditional healers. Analysis was conducted by a single investigator using constant comparison methods.
Depressive symptoms were common and identifiable, and largely consistent with symptom profiles seen in non-Aboriginal groups. For Aboriginal men, depression was expressed and understood as primarily related to weakness or injury of the spirit, with a lack of reference to hopelessness and specific somatic complaints. The primary contributors to depression related to the loss of connection to social and cultural features of Aboriginal life, cumulative stress and marginalisation.
Depression and depressive symptomatology clearly exists in Aboriginal men, however its determinants and expression differ from mainstream populations. Emotions were understood within the construction of spirit, Kurunpa, which was vulnerable to repetitive and powerful negative social forces, loss, and stress across the life course, and served to frame the physical and emotional experience and expression of depression.
尽管澳大利亚原住民面临更高的精神疾病风险，但针对他们的抑郁经历的研究却很少。本研究旨在概述澳大利亚中部地区原住民男性的情绪困扰和抑郁的表现、体验、表现和后果。
利用扎根理论方法，对 22 名经过理论抽样的年轻、中年和老年原住民男性和传统治疗师进行了深入的半结构化访谈。分析由一名单一调查员使用恒定性比较方法进行。
抑郁症状很常见且可识别，与非原住民群体中所见的症状特征基本一致。对于原住民男性来说，抑郁被表达和理解为主要与精神的虚弱或损伤有关，而不是与绝望和特定的躯体抱怨有关。抑郁的主要原因与与原住民生活的社会和文化特征的丧失、累积的压力和边缘化有关。
抑郁和抑郁症状在原住民男性中显然存在，但它的决定因素和表现与主流人群不同。情绪是在精神、库伦帕的构建中被理解的，库伦帕容易受到反复的和强大的负面社会力量、生活过程中的损失和压力的影响，并有助于构建抑郁的身体和情感体验和表达。
