Growing up in North Western Ontario and being the son of a social worker, I heard a lot of stories from the surrounding reserves and small bits of the issues they were facing. At one point, my mom said that the number of teen suicides was increasing and there was not a lot being done about it. More recently, a member of my family who was suffering from a mental disability took his own life after a minor dispute in his family. Today, I wonder what these individuals were thinking in their last moments, what the connection to mental disabilities might be, and how these deaths could have been prevented.
In their article on the human mind, Mehl-Madrona and Pennycook (2009) look at what Indigenous elders have to share on the topic. What came from this study on the mind was that it is not something that existed within the person but instead is a shared event of all people and grown through relationships with others, that we are placed within stories that set up who we are and who we become, and that balance and restoring balance within the community is central to restoring a person (94 – 95). The article concludes with saying that the idea of the mind in Indigenous thought (pun actually not intended) needs to be redeveloped before it can be effective once more and hopes that will be aided the with the study (97 – 98). It is clear to see that the Indigenous people place a heavy emphasis on healing and reconciliation, and that the whole community is affected by an affliction such as mental illness. In an older article by Enns, Inayatulla, Cox and Cheyne (1997), the study finds that Aboriginal youth report the feeling of hopelessness when choosing to end their own life (221). The question then arises what surrounding them brings on these feelings and why does this option seem like the best one to take. Meanwhile in the North West Territories, the Aboriginal communities are asking for their healers to be funded for the work they are doing with the problems they are facing (Helwig, 2000).
If the mind, the individual, and the community are all connected, they need to be brought together when one of them fallss out of sync. Indigenous methods of healing need to be brought into the discourse when we consider suicide prevention in the Native population. I really think that the NWT is on to something with asking for their traditional ways to be officially employed by local agencies. What a step forward it would be to see more programs in place for Indigenous youth to be healed from these feelings of hopelessness and be proud members of the people they are. Hopefully someday within our lifetime, we will see this people group suffer no more.
Kel
Mehl-Madrona, L., & Pennycook, G. (2009). Construction of an aboriginal theory of mind and mental health. Anthology of Consciouness, 20(2), 85-100. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy2.lib.umanitoba.ca/doi/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1997.tb00293.x/full
Helwig, D. (2000). Nwt report urges recognition for aboriginal healers.Canadian Medical Association ,162(13), 1862. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.proxy2.lib.umanitoba.ca/pmc/articles/PMC1231384/pdf/cmaj_162_13_1862.pdf
Enns, M. W., Inayatulla, M., Cox, B., & Cheyne, L. (1997). Prediction of suicide intent in aboriginal and non-aboriginal adolescent inpatients: A research note. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 27(2), 218-224. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy2.lib.umanitoba.ca/doi/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1997.tb00293.x/pdf
Great Post. I just had a speaker talk in one of my classes(NATV) about youth suicide among Aboriginals. The speaker mentioned that youth suicide among Aboriginal people is a problem and that it stems from the loss of identity throughout the generations.
ReplyDelete-Kerri
Hey Kel, first of all, nice post and I'm sorry to hear about the member in you family. Secondly, for some people it's hard to hear about the problem with youth suicide in communities and some don't like to acknowledge that it exists but as you pointed out it's something that needs to involve the whole community. This I agree on. Have you ever heard the saying that bad things happen in three's? There's a quote by Elana Premack (2009) that states "A suicide death is like a pebble in a pond. The waves ripple outward." When someone takes their life in a community, especially if it is a small tight knit one, there tends to be more problems afterwards, such as more suicides and the likes of that. Suicide Prevention programs would be helpful here, as well as programs to get at risk youth more interconnected with the community to get a better sense of who they are (identity), because as Kerri points out, and I have read, suicide and loss of identity are closely related. Again, good post Kel.
ReplyDelete- Jody
It has been a serious issue for a long time about why the aboriginal teenagers are getting despair in the early life. It is our duty to find the permanent solution soon to this horrific social problem and I am very hopeful like you Kel. Together we can build a safe and sure future of many.
ReplyDeleteSubas