Suicide in the Native American Community
The community I posted about in my first blog post was the Native American community, and I went into detail on the social and political issues they have faced for many years. However, today I will focus on the main issue that has affected this community and many others globally, which is suicide in the Native American community. I believe that suicide is a mental health issue, but it is also a social justice issue in this community. Preventing suicidal behavior in the Native American community is possible, but the numbers have risen as suicide has become a leading cause of death in the United States. Native communities' suicide rates are higher than the general population, ranging the highest amongst youth to younger adults ages 15-34. There are many increases in the risk of suicide within this community.
The higher risk of suicide in Native communities depends upon many varying factors. These factors include mental health conditions, social issues, substance abuse, intergenerational trauma, and community-wide socioeconomic disparities. The Native American community has limited access to cleaner water and healthier food than others, which causes a lead in physical health conditions, eventually leading to a higher risk of developing a mental health condition as an individual. In addition, health issues among the Native community are rising; this will lead to and cause an increase in the risk of suicide; these health issues include depression, substance abuse, and even diabetes. Another factor to rising suicide rates in the Native American community is a generational trauma; throughout history, the community has faced historical mistreatment, oppression of their people, and forced displacement. These factors all had long-term impacts on the community, causing depression and trauma. I believe understanding the historical context behind the generational trauma throughout the Native community may lead to solving or understanding the rates of higher suicide in the indigenous community. Another main issue that increases the risk of suicide within the Native American community is their higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and the increased rate of homelessness. These issues all increase the rate of suicide and higher the risk.
After researching the issues facing the Native American community resulting in higher suicide rates, I investigated how communities can take action to prevent suicide. I found evidence-based actions or solutions that may lead to resolving the suicide rate. These include watching for warning signs within the community, building support by offering more positive experiences, or even knowing how to get involved to help. Many programs can be built to prevent suicide, these programs are often built within the community, and it encourages Natives to ask for help and become connected to others with the same suicidal thoughts while they learn to cope with skills and practice resilience to prevent suicide among their community. While researching suicide prevention programs within Native American communities, I learned five main steps to help prevent the rate from rising, offering a solution to the suicides in the Native American community. These include understanding the cultural context of the Native community, community representation through planning and evaluation processes, including the values and beliefs of the community with a shared vision, fostering open communication with cultural consideration of terminology or personal space, and increasing protective factors with a family connection to include a sense of belonging with the Native American community.
There are multiple perspectives on suicide within the Native American community, and these should be widely discussed. Native American males and females ages 15-24 suicide rates are three times higher than all other races' rates in this age group. Also, American Indian and Alaskan Native students reported the highest rate of suicide attempts in high school, with a 25.5% rate. I found many more perceived social influences that differ amongst the communities; contagion was a new perspective on the rising suicide rate, and discrimination and bullying had also played a factor with the younger generation of Native Americans. The overall suicide rates among the different demographic characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, and age, the Native American community ranked among the highest. With American youth specifically, Native Americans show higher rates of suicide than any other American youth or race. There are many different perspectives on ways to solve the issue in the Native American community. I believe that the suicide rate in this community is a significant issue, and it is something that needs to be resolved, one way or another. With the Native American community only consisting of 0.9% of the United States population, but they have higher suicide rates than other races and groups, this needs to be a widely discussed issue among the American people.