Drug use and the associated mental health impacts are a major health issue in remote Indigenous communities exacerbated by limited access to mental health services. In Queensland and Northern Territory communities, rates of cannabis use may be as high as one in two, and we have preliminary data suggesting cannabis users are suffering a wide range of mental health impacts, some of which are indicative of drug-induced psychosis. In order to systematically document these mental health impacts and facilitate early intervention, we must first establish reliable and validated research methods to measure mental health in these communities.
The challenges for mental health research in these communities will be outlined, as will be the steps currently being taken to establish systematic approaches to measuring mental health and cannabis use.
It is anticipated that the development of culturally valid and reliable methods for detecting symptoms of mental ill health will facilitate early intervention and thus improve mental health outcomes for those living in remote Indigenous communities.
Dr India Bohanna, Research Fellow, and A/Prof Alan Clough, James Cook University will present at the;
The
13th International Mental Health Conference 6th to the 8th of August 2012 Outrigger Inn (formerly Holiday Inn) Gold Coast, Qld
https://dev3.anzmh.asn.au/conference