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Colonization drives silence and inequities in men’s mental illness

Nature Mental Health volume 1, page 609 (2023)Cite this article

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In a Comment in Nature Mental Health, Ogrodniczuk et al.1 call for action to address the silence surrounding men’s mental illness through collective societal efforts to re-shape cultural norms, reduce stigma and normalize help-seeking. We extend on this by emphasizing that the downstream effects of colonization also need to be recognized as drivers of silence and persistent and unremitting inequities in Indigenous men.

Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Canada and the USA are nations that share the experience of being settler colonial countries. Indigenous men in these countries present some of the highest suicide rates globally, with poorer mental health outcomes than non-Indigenous men2. For example, Māori men in Aotearoa are more likely to use mental health services, present higher rates of hospitalization for mental disorders and are four times more likely to be treated by mental health services under involuntary treatment legislation compared with non-Māori men3. However, these inequities have only emerged since the 1970s, deriving from the oppression of Māori people through land confiscation, economic deprivation, mass European immigration, cultural marginalization, forced social change and structural racism over successive generations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand

    Sarah K. McKenzie & Susanna Every-Palmer

  2. Kaitiaki Research and Evaluation, Wellington, New Zealand

    Michael Roguski

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  1. Sarah K. McKenzie
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  2. Michael Roguski
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  3. Susanna Every-Palmer
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Correspondence to Susanna Every-Palmer.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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McKenzie, S.K., Roguski, M. & Every-Palmer, S. Colonization drives silence and inequities in men’s mental illness. Nat. Mental Health 1, 609 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00113-0

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