COVID-19, mental health and Indigenous populations in Brazil: The epidemic beyond the pandemic

The aim of this paper was to report on factors contributing to the deterioration of the mental health of Indigenous populations (IP) in Brazil. Five factors seem to have a direct impact on the mental health of IP in Brazil: (1) The absence of public policies; (2) Intellectual production; (3) Psychiatric medical care for remote areas (e.g., telemedicine) aimed at promoting the mental health of Brazil’s IP, which causes a huge gap in the process of assistance and social, psychological, economic and cultural valorization of native peoples; (4) The dissemination of fake news, which exposed, above all, older IP to risk behaviors in the pandemic, such as refusal of vaccination; and (5) The violence carried out on IP lands due to economic interests with mining/agribusiness.