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• Life events or ‘stressors’ that may be possible risk factors for distress are listedin table 9.4.1.• Table 9.4.1 shows that levels of high to very high psychological distress werehighest among those who had experienced:– abuse or violent crime (42.2 per cent)– drug related problems (40.5 per cent)– alcohol related problems (39.2 per cent).Although the next section presents the level of psychological distress according toselected health characteristics, such as alcohol consumption, it is not possible toassume a causal relationship.• In 2004-05, 43 per cent of Indigenous people living in non-remote areas hadexperienced a high to very high level of distress and reported their health statusas fair or poor compared with 31 per cent of Indigenous people in remote areas(table 9A.4.17).• Eighty-nine per cent of Indigenous people who had experienced high to veryhigh levels of psychological distress had at least one long term health conditionand nearly two thirds (64 per cent) had at least three long term health conditions(table 9A.4.17).• In 2004-05, high to very high levels of psychological distress were mostprevalent among Indigenous people with eye/sight problems (53 per cent), backpain/problems (33 per cent) and heart and circulatory problems/diseases(26 per cent) (table 9A.4.17).• Indigenous people who had experienced high to very high levels ofpsychological distress were more likely than those who had experienced low tomoderate levels of distress to regularly smoke (59 per cent compared with47 per cent) and to drink alcohol at risky to high risk levels in the long term(19 per cent compared to 16 per cent) (table 9A.4.17).Some information on positive mental wellbeing for Indigenous people was collectedin the 2004-05 NATSIHS (SF–36 questions). Based on the responses to questionsabout feelings of wellbeing:• 56.4 per cent of Indigenous people aged 18 years and over reported feeling calmand peaceful all or most of the time (table 9A.4.13)• 71.4 per cent reported being happy all or most of the time (table 9A.4.13)• Over half (54.6 per cent) felt full of life all or most of the time (table 9A.4.13)OVERCOMINGINDIGENOUSDISADVANTAGE 2007