Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry · Published 2026-01-01 · DOI 10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_387_24
This study is an attempt at developing a conceptual framework which examines normalization’s duality associated with mental health problems and its impact on tribal mental health care. This conceptual framework is developed based on the reflections from the fieldwork experiences and available literature. The community members have normalized mental health problems, resulting in low stigma within the community. The core idea of normalization involves using culturally normative means to offer individual’s life conditions at least as good as the average citizen, supporting their behavior, appearance, and experiences. Normalization of mental health issues among tribal communities is driven by the high prevalence of cases, cultural practices, and community members’ attitudes. While reduced stigma and normalization offer benefits such as community support and awareness, they also create challenges such as overlooking severity, poor health-seeking behaviors, and limited access to care. This conceptual framework highlights the need for a comprehensive approach such as contextually and culturally sensitive mental health literacy programs, interventions to enhance traditional and community-based support systems, mobile- and community-based mental health services, and collaboration of governmental and nongovernmental organizations with the tribal community. It is crucial to have a normalized community by ensuring that mental healthcare resources are accessible and utilized appropriately. Therefore, this conceptual framework tries to focus on specific interventions that help maintain the positive aspects of low stigma when addressing the potential downsides of normalization.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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