Premium Essay

Mental Illnesses In First Nations Communities

Submitted By
Words 1219
Pages 5
Summary
The purpose of this report is to inform readers on the mental illnesses and issues that are seen in many First Nations communities. This report also includes how the prevalence of mental illnesses and issues in First Nations communities can be linked to intergenerational trauma, and the treatment/healing.

Introduction
On April 9, 2016, the First Nations community of Attawapiskat, declared a state of emergency after eleven people attempted suicide in just one night. This is not a unique case, as this isn’t the first community to have gone into a state of emergency, nor will it be the last. Many First Nations communities face mental illness and issues that include suicide, depression, and drug and alcohol addictions - at a significantly …show more content…
There is a misconception that more First Nations people drink more than the general Canadian population, but this is not the case. According to the Regional Health survey 2002/03, only 66% of First Nations adults living on reserve consumed alcohol, compared to 76% of the general Canadian population (Khan, 2008). Although there are fewer First Nations people who consume alcohol, this could indicate that those who do drink, drink heavily. Cannabis use is also a common problem among First Nations communities. It was found that 48% of First Nations youth, 15-17 years of age, living on reserve had used cannabis in the previous year (2006). With nearly half of First Nations youth using cannabis, this could lead to higher numbers of drug use in the future. There is a large amount of First Nations people who misuse drugs and alcohol, however, respondents have reported that there has been progress in reducing the amount of drugs and alcohol consumed within their …show more content…
There are many different available options of treatments, some work better than others. “Models of treatment that remove a person from their surroundings tend to not work with this group of people” (Khan, 2008). Since First Nations people have a huge sense of family and community, it wouldn’t make sense to remove them from something that is so important to them.
On the other hand, treatment involving family such as family therapy has been shown to work. “Effective treatment involves identifying the strengths of families and communities and developing programs that build on these strengths” (Khan, 2008). By identifying strengths of a family, each member may benefit as opposed to only one person. By choosing treatment and healing and addressing intergenerational trauma, it can benefit the individual as well as the family as a whole.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Mental Stigma

...Stigma of Mental Illness Mental illness seems more prevalent today than it did in the days of our grandparents and great grandparents. Arguments range many opinions of why this is the case. One argument is that more mental illnesses are recognized today compared to the past. For example, during WWII “Shell Shock” was used to describe the abnormal mental condition affecting all soldiers who experienced traumatic events during war. Psychiatrist didn’t discover Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), until the Vietnam War (Joseph, 2011). Advancements and discovery’s in the field of Psychology today have led to the diagnosis of many mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, depression, and others. This led to many questions. Are these conditions over diagnosed? Are these just labels for behaviors not acceptable by society? What stigmas are associated with those affected by these conditions? I think it’s a combination of all of the above. (NAMI, 2016)...

Words: 582 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Influence Of Mental Illness In Australia

...Impact the Perception of Mental Illness in China and Australia. Mental Illness is depicted as an individual’s tendency to exhibit emotions, thoughts and behaviours that do not coincide with what are considered to be the societal norms (Manderscheid et al., 2010). Moreover, throughout history the perception has been that those with mental illnesses should be categorised as dangerous and unstable individuals. Undoubtedly, due to the negative connotations associated with these phrases, society has ignited a severe stigma leading to the “devaluing, disgracing, and disfavouring by the general public”(Abdullah & Brown, 2011) of individuals with these conditions. Although, this has been a long standing prominent issue all around...

Words: 1561 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Community Service

...Kyle Zickefoose Antonette Navarro Community Service 305 Dec. 4, 2014 Final Integration Paper Over the course of this semester I have learned so much in this Community Service 305 class. In this paper I will discuss my new understanding of active citizenship, community engagement, and social responsibility. I will also share some of my personal accounts during my time doing community service, how this has been much more than a one-way relationship, and some of the social issues facing the mental health population. The last thing I will be discussing is how this experience has transformed who I am as a person and how I will integrate what I have learned into my personal life. Before I started this class, I was not looking really looking forward to it. I always assumed that community service was done by retired people or celebrities looking for good publicity, but I was definitely wrong. This class has changed the way I look at community service and I now see it as a crucial part of any thriving community. Multiple videos were shown to us in class about single individuals starting large movements by cutting there own path and not being afraid of deviating from the rest of the crowd. The one video that I remember vividly was one of young boy trying to move a huge log that had fallen in the middle of the road and was blocking traffic. The boy had no chance of moving the log by himself, but he never gave up and eventually people began to start pushing the log with him...

Words: 2041 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Eng Port

...papers. With the amount of revisions that were undertaken in all four projects, I feel that I have become more comfortable in the act of revision. Also, I was never good at incorporating forms of evidence to support my claims, ideas and arguments. This class was very helpful in showing how to take research and incorporate it into a project. Overall, this class has allowed me to strengthen my skills as a reviser, helped me “formulate and articulate a stance through my writing”, and helped me to use more forms of evidence to support my claims, ideas and arguments. Project 1 was the simplest of the four projects. I decided to analyze a research article on Marketing and how companies have started to move their businesses into developing nations. At first I didn’t think I would be able to write a rhetorical analysis on this article because of its length but after multiple revisions and help from peers I wrote my final draft. This was the one project where the revisions really helped me grow as a writer. Without these revisions I would have written a terrible analysis because I had no idea how to explain the ideas in the article because it was so short. My peers gave me guidance and used their papers to help formulate my own paper. Prior to this assignment I had written papers detailing articles read but I had never done so with such a short piece. It was hard to fit enough words into the paper without sounding...

Words: 7476 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Mental Illness On College Campuses: A Case Study

...College is a multibillion dollar company; they focus on expanding and renovating their campuses to attract more students to their business every year. Furthermore, they idolize their athletic programs and community involvement to portray the idea that college is all fun and games. However, millions of college students are struggling with mental health disorders and have no one to help them. ABC reported in 2016 that one in four college students suffer from some form for mental illness, including depression, and one out of every twelve students formulates a plan to commit suicide (Sabatke). While 102,000 fans sing “Rocky Top” at the top of their lungs on a fall Saturday, thousands of students question the worth of continuing to live. It has...

Words: 1450 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Social Care Intervention

...This paper will address the interventions that social workers employ in the service of caregivers of people diagnosed with Serious and Persistent Mental Illnesses. It explores if certain demographics of the caregiver should guide the type of intervention social workers utilize when providing caregiver support. Introduction A. Caregiving. The act of caregiving is not unfamiliar, but the term “caregiving” is relatively new, with the first recorded use of the word in 1966 (Caregiving, 2010). Sixty-five million Americans, which comprise 29% of the United States (U.S.) population, have served as unpaid family caregivers to an adult or a child (Caregiving in the United States, 2009). Caregiving is multi-dimensional. For example, family caregiving,...

Words: 1497 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Hlth10 Phase 1 Study

...condition monitoring of medical disorders is frequently correlated with higher illness incidence. This increase in demand may put pressure on primary care resources, leading to longer appointment wait times and perhaps lower-quality care (Ford, 2020). Additionally, variations in the prevalence of an illness affect the need for specialist healthcare services. High-prevalence conditions require specialized care from a variety of medical professionals, such as oncologists for cancer or cardiologists for cardiovascular illnesses. As a result, healthcare systems must dedicate resources to fulfill the demand for these specialized services, which includes having a suitable number of specialists, diagnostic equipment, and treatment facilities. Hospital admissions and ER visits are also impacted by changes in illness incidence and prevalence. A greater number of hospitalizations for acute exacerbations or consequences may result from an increase in the incidence of some illnesses. The escalation of persistent medical disorders or the introduction of contagious diseases may also lead to an increase in emergency department visits. Furthermore, shifts in illness incidence and prevalence have an impact on healthcare spending and budgets. Healthcare systems must modify their financial plans to account for changes in the prevalence of disease, directing funds to the most critical areas to guarantee efficient diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'...

Words: 1821 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Homelessness In Canada

...Homelessness and poverty continues to be a problem across Canada and around the world. Homelessness is described as ‘the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it’ (Gaetz, Donaldson, Richter, & Gulliver, 2013, p.4). Homelessness can result from mental, cognitive, physical or behavioural challenges, or may result from societal barriers and discrimination (Gaetz et al., 2013). Gaetz, Gulliver, & Richter (2014) states that declining wages, reduced benefit levels including pensions and social assistance and a shrinking supply of affordable housing have placed more and more Canadians at risk of homelessness. According to recent estimates, each...

Words: 1255 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Tack 1 Unit 12

...1842 The report of Edwin Chadwick says that he is reinforcing to the poor law, in the year of 1842 he wrote” a sanitary Report of the labouring population” this is promoting the safeness and the disposal of human waste and the rubbish that they may have. This is a mass evident linking the environment and ill health. Edwin Chadwick has recommended support by the medical and the engineering specialist and to be responsible of all the sentry matters. The facts a figures that are the population in Glasgow is 37% and the housing growth is 18.5%. In Manchester and this time was the population of 47% and the housing growth was 15% and last but not least Bradford the population there was 78% and the housing growth rate was 12% First public Health Act 1848 The first public health act stated that the rapid growth of towns and cities due the industrialisation and the grown of the industries. This is also to do with the environment around them, this is also to do with where they live and where the medical care is. The act states that the year of 1848 the central of health was created and then stopped 10 years later....

Words: 2140 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Pyschology

...outside of cities. Sometimes health services are not culturally appropriate (do not consider Indigenous culture and the specific needs of Indigenous people). Also, some Indigenous people may not be able to use some services because they are too expensive. (Slide show) Social and emotional wellbeing is a term used to talk about a person’s overall social, emotional, psychological (mental), spiritual, and cultural wellbeing. Factors that are important to social and emotional wellbeing include a person’s. (refer to slide show) Social and emotional wellbeing is often confused with mental health, but it is much broader: social and emotional wellbeing is concerned with the overall wellbeing of the person. On the other hand, mental health describes how a person thinks and feels, and how they cope with and take part in everyday life. It is often seen, incorrectly, as simply the absence of a mental illness. (Slide show) Important determinants of Indigenous health inequality in Australia include the lack of equal access to primary health care and the lower standard of health infrastructure in Indigenous communities (healthy housing, food, sanitation etc) compared to other Australians. Equality in health care refers to the differences in the use, access, availability or quality of health care by different groups (Ward, 2009). Inequality in health care is about the ability to access health services using concepts and approaches involving social justice and therefore requires a judgement about...

Words: 2314 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Mental Health Care Research Paper

...Mental Healthcare The American Psychological Association recently stated, “An overwhelming majority of americans remain unaware that health insurers are required to provide coverage for mental health” (American Psychological). The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 made it required by law to cover metal and behavioral health; even with this act in place there are still limits in the amount of coverage and benefits given by each provider. Though the government does not pay much attention to people’s psychological conditions, this was to try and help those who are struggling psychologically receive the help they so desperately need. Despite the mental healthcare system being barely acknowledged and underfunded, there are numerous...

Words: 1348 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Health Promotion

...health promotion seeks to give an individual control over their health. In health promotion, the actions taken are not limited to just individuals, but also extends to the community, environment etc (Unknown, 2012). Prevention also involves taking control of the determinants of health like the community, economics, environment (Unknown, 2012). Every state, county, town, has its own different approaches to health promotion. But mainly, they revolve around improving personal health, clean environment, strong community and better personal skills (Unknown, 2012). Health promotion is extremely important in the nursing field. Nurses are usually the primary care givers in a medical setting and have direct contact with the patients. Nurses can spread the message that prevention is better than the cure. They can bring across the point that prevention is more cost effective and can provide a better life for patients. They can help to prevent diseases from occurring and spreading and can advocate creating a better, healthier and well-informed community. Nurses have more influence and responsibilities than before and health promotion in the work field is a start. As time goes on, nurses’ responsibilities regarding health promotion are increasing. They not just have a responsibility to their patients, but also to the community as a whole. Nurses are encouraged to create wellness...

Words: 1152 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Deinstitutionalization Vs Incarceration

...If a society is to be judged how it treats its most disadvantaged members, then the United States is in a very lowly state. In the United States we incarcerate over 356,000 individuals diagnosed with mental illnesses a year. This is a ten fold the number of people receiving treatment in psychiatric hospitals, around 35,000 (Frances). Leaving us with the question when did suffering from a mental illness become a crime worthy of incarceration? The question no longer remains as to if the system is broken, as indicated by recent report from the Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriffs’ Association, which surveyed sheriffs and prison administrators, which concluded on three main points. Mental illness among prison populations are growing...

Words: 1531 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Persuasive Speech On Gun Control

...and killed while out partying last night? Or, as a parent, your child didn’t come home from school? This is the shocking reality for too many Americans. In 2017 alone, there were over 300 shootings across the nation, resulting in almost 12 000 deaths, more than 13 000 injuries, and an unmeasurable amount of people in sorrow. With more gun control in America, we can get rid of the outdated laws surrounding firearm usage and ownership, protect the future of the country, and enhance safety in communities. Good morning/afternoon Mr. Beauregard and 9C. With thousands of deaths each year solely from guns, doesn’t that tell you anything? The necessity of gun control...

Words: 1289 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Mental Homelessness

...Mental Illness and Homelessness When most people hear the term, "homeless" they more than likely initially think of the physical hardships of being without a home. If you're homeless, where do you sleep? What do you do without a bathroom, or a shower? How do you live without all of the everyday possessions most people take for granted, like a toothbrush or a comb or a child's beloved stuffed animal? Most People, however, do not consider the effects being homeless can have on a person's mental health. The stress that they endure and the depression that can overwhelm become secondary to their physical and material trials and tribulations. However, the mental effects are just as important, affecting the mind that is ultimately the powerhouse and control center for the body. Being mentally ill does not occur as a result of being homeless. Mental illness may just be more prominent among the homeless. Most people are mentally ill before they become homeless and are affected by their respective symptoms before they're out on the streets. Oftentimes as a result of their mental illness they are unable to keep up with their bills or take care of themselves. This is what leads to their being homeless. If someone was living in a home and seeing a doctor, then their symptoms could be under control. After becoming homeless, since they can't afford to see a doctor, their mental illness could surface more readily. Over 40 years have passed since many psychiatric institutions in the United...

Words: 3993 - Pages: 16