Mental health in indigenous contexts: Scarcity of Brazilian researches, invisibility of differences

Abstract

This study aimed to conduct a survey of articles produced on the topic mental health in indigenous contexts between the years 1999 and 2012 in the main Brazilian scientific platforms (SciELO and BVS-PSI). Three groups of descriptors were used, totaling 62 searches, which found 5510 results. Of these, only 14 articles remained after analysis. Data was collected on the distribution by year of publication, subject and object of research, ethnicity and geographic region covered, participation or not of psychology professionals in the study, among others. Also, we assessed whether the concepts of mental health and indigenous were or not problematized, taking into account the alterity and cultural diversity of these people. It was concluded that the researches are incipient and lack on epistemological reflection to support the complexity of this intercultural dialogue, which discusses knowledge arising from references that are originally so distinct.

Keywords:
mental health; Indians; ethnic groups