Diabetes: An Interpretation Of Mental Health

Justin has diabetes and depression. He was diagnosed with type two diabetes when he was 15 years old. Type two diabetes is aggravated by an unhealthy lifestyle with unhealthy eating and little to no exercise (Newsweek 2000, pg. 47). This is evident in his childhood as his parents and one sister have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes has been known to affect or cause depression (Gregory & Brown 2000, pg. 63). Throughout high school, Justin has suffered bullying because of his culture ad background. Risk factors for a mental illness include experiencing discrimination or racism and loss of self-esteem (Muir-Cochrane, Barkway & Nizette 2014, pg 10). Being a victim to bullying is also considered a risk factor to having depression (Klomek et al. pg. 43).
Including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and cultural health (Dingwall & Cairney 2010, pg. 22). They also believe that is they do something culturally wrong, they will develop a mental illness as a ‘pay back’ (Westerman 2004, pg. 91). My interpretation of mental health comes from what I have been taught at school and exposure to it around me. The Australian Health Ministers, 2008, cited in Muir-Cochrane, Barkway & Nizette (2014, pg 1), states that mental illness is a disorder that interferes with an individual’s cognitive, emotional or social abilities. Because of the exposure I have had to mental illness throughout my family, friends and social media, I believe it is very common for people to have an element of a mental illness and some people are better at hiding it than others. I also believe it is no one’s fault and it is nothing to be ashamed of. In some ways our views are similar as I believe someone’s health involves physical, mental, spiritual wellbeing. However, there are some differences, mainly because of culture. Being culturally aware of these differences, is very important to cultural safety and developing a therapeutic relationship with a patient, in this case with Justin (Guerin & Taylor 2014, pg.
Some Aboriginal cultures view depression as a characteristic of a person, and it doesn’t need attention (Isaacs et al. 2010, pg. 77). There are many Aboriginal peoples that aren’t educated on mental illness and are not sure what to do about it (Eley et al. 2007, pg. 131). This is why communication and education is very important. Many Aboriginal peoples find it difficult to access the healthcare system as it is an entirely different way of dealing with their health than what they have been taught. (Westerman 2004, pg. 88). I have a strong attitude that mental illness should be treated and talked about for a patient to recover. I do recognize that not everyone agrees. I would have to be very careful to not let my attitude influence the way I talk with Justin as he may be very private with his feelings as he might not understand them or may think they’re normal and not worth mentioning. This why working with Aboriginal health workers and traditional healers, Nangkari’s, is important as they maintain culturally safe care will assist in any communication issues. (Guerin & Taylor 2014, pg.