Wellbeing and mental health in the Amazon region

The mental health situation in the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region has been critical for years. According to the Ministry of Health, the national suicide mortality rate in the Department of Vaupés, a mostly indigenous region, is twice the national rate, being one of the main causes of death. This is the result of several structural factors: historical trauma, loss of territory, violence, racial discrimination, economic precariousness and weakening of their own spiritual and social systems. 

For this reason, the ideal approach to promote mental health care corresponds to joint work between young people, families and traditional authorities, identifying protective and risk factors in Amazonian communities. This with the intention of preventing and intervening in the situations presented, suggesting response mechanisms that integrate western methods with their own knowledge and, in general, creating safe spaces where invisible or stigmatized issues can be addressed in order to build alternatives and joint strategies that promote integral wellbeing.