Indigenous language and perception

Indigenous language and perception

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? Here, the focus zooms out from substances to the deeper machinery of the mind: language itself. This episode of All In The Mind looks at how Australian Indigenous languages shape perception, identity and mental health in ways that contrast sharply with English. Senior lecturer Dr Tyson Yunkaporta explains why Aboriginal languages have no single word for "safety" or "work".

Instead, there are many words for protection, awareness and responsibility, creating a system where "risk is distributed throughout the system" and everyone has agency in looking after themselves and each other. As he puts it, "It's with our words, we make the world." Linguist Professor Nick Evans shares how learning the language Kayardilt changed his sense of space.

Rather than saying "move to the left", he learned to say "become in the north" or "become in the east", constantly tuning attention to the landscape and compass points. This shift moves the focus away from the individual and towards the wider environment, training the mind to see the self as a small part of a much bigger pattern. Psychologist Professor Pat Dudgeon connects these linguistic patterns to mental health.

Her early research showed Aboriginal children often have superior visual–spatial memory, hinting at the strengths embedded in culture. She now works to shape mental health services around a broader idea of self: one that is "deeply connected to your family, your community, your country, your culture, your spirituality" and the history of colonisation. From Indigenous memory techniques used with medical students to the communal practice of "yarning", you’ll hear how language can support shared decision-making, resilience and culturally grounded wellbeing.

If language can reshape how we see risk, kinship and the land, what might changing our words do for the way we think about recovery and mental health?