The mental health of aboriginal people in Canada.

 The mental health of aboriginal people in Canada.

Introduction

The aboriginal peoples around the world have experienced marginalization, a rapid change in culture, and global economy absorption without regarding their autonomy (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). In many communities, the discontinuity in culture has been linked to high rates of violence, alcoholism, and depression, with a significant impact on youth. The aboriginal people constitute 4 percent of the Canadian population, with 11 major language groups (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). There is a substantial linguistic and cultural difference among many groups. There are also enormous differences in lifestyle, perspective, and values within the urban population of aboriginal people. Despite this diversity, most groups share common economic, social, and political predicaments. The shared common predicament has made people forge a collective identity among diverse groups. This paper seeks to explain in detail the peoples of Canada’s mental issues, which comprise the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). The paper explores the history of systematic suppression and dislocation and its range and level of the problems it causes on the people and individual and ongoing collective transformation and the revitalization of identity and forms of a community of aboriginal people.

Social origins of distress

The tale of the indigenous population is traced from the history of North America European colonization exhibited by active suppression of culture and identity, warfare, an infectious disease that was almost equal to genocide. The displacement and oppression of the aboriginal people were contributed by religious institutions, the political and economic activities of the European settlers. The contact with European settlers brought with it many forms of infectious disease like measles, smallpox, bubonic plague, influenza, tropical malaria, chicken box whooping cough, trachoma, and others (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). This greatly affected aboriginal people. Besides, the health of the aboriginal people was greatly affected by the reliance on European foodstuff and their diet. To date, these effects are still witnessed among the aboriginal people where there are profound problems of diabetes endemic and obesity among them. There has been a continued destroying of indigenous cultures by the government policies of Canada. These policies include the creation of reserves, forced sedentarization, residential schools, relocation to remote regions, and bureaucratic control. Indigenous people started the process of sedentarization to respond to fur traders and missionaries; this process later came to take a new form where the government systematically put efforts to educate police and provide healthcare for remote populations (Kielland & Simeone). The government chose the location of all aboriginal settlements rather than the indigenous people deciding for themselves. This act by the government ended up in arbitrary social groupings of people living together in close quarters with no history of living together before. Therefore, it forces these groups of people to improvise new ways of life and initiate new social structures.

In some cases, the indigenous people were given parcels of land that were undesirable as they were out of colonizer’s expansion (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). These activities of relocating the aboriginal people were disastrous. The relocation of Inuit to the far North in disguise to protect Canadian sovereignty was a disastrous experiment where the forced culture change process exposes the continuing lack of awareness of government of cultural and ecological realities. The reality of the matter is that these policies ultimately served the interests of non-aboriginal in terms of economic and political sustained by forms of racism. The attempts to eradicate and suppress the aboriginal cultures were premised on the ideology that portrayed the indigenous people as uncivilized and primitive (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). The legislation that followed was justified by the ideology that prevented the aboriginal cultural and religious practices, for example, the Sun Dance. Additionally, there was a perception that the indigenous people were not ready to participate in the democratic government and therefore needed to join the rest of the Canadian society had to be civilized What followed was systematic efforts to culturally assimilate aboriginal children through forceful residential school attendance and out of community adoption by non –indigenous families.

Between 1879 to 1973, the Canadian government introduced mandatory church-run boarding schools for aboriginal children education (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). This initiative saw over 100000 aboriginal children taken from their homes and put into an institutional regime that disparaged fiercely and suppressed their heritage. There is a wide acknowledgment of many of these schools’ perpetration of sexual abuse, physical and emotional impacts. Worse still was the effect on multiple losses, abrupt separation from their families, brutality, and deprivation coupled with denying the aboriginal their basic human right to transmit their traditions and to maintain their cultural identity by the residential school system initiative. The aboriginal parents were seen as not able to provide proper education and pass European values to their children. Most of these policies were motivated by paternalistic attitudes, which did not recognize the aboriginal people’s autonomy or the richness and the resources of their cultures.

Cumulatively the effect of these policies resulted in collective trauma and almost cultural genocide, and these effects are exhibited in endemic mental health problems of the aboriginal communities and populations in Canada. There was a deliberate assault on the identity of the aboriginal people and the continuity of their lives, which led to mental health issues (Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). On top of these assaults on their culture are the effects of economic marginalization and the impact of poverty, which were seen in the poor living conditions in remote settlements, which led to diseases like tuberculosis and respiratory diseases. Prolonged hospitalizations due to these diseases subverted the integrity of communities and families. The realities of globalization contributed to the continued political marginalization of the aboriginal people.

The Impact on Mental health

In the general Canadian population, the aboriginal people suffer at higher rates of a range of health problems, and their life expectancy is substantially shorter due to increased rates of death cases of accident and suicide among young people and higher infant mortality. Research epidemiological studies have indicated a high incidence of mental health problems in the aboriginal communities in Canada. The high rates were seen at aboriginal communities on alcoholism, violence, suicide, and pervasive demoralization are linked directly to occur because of the history of disruption and dislocations of traditional subsistence patterns and the issues of land. The basis of psychiatric disorders prevalence estimates is on the service utilization records. However, due to the fact many aboriginals do not go for the treatment, the estimates do not reflect the true figure of the prevalence of distress in the community. A study by Kenzie and colleagues of Northwest village indicated 18.4 % of women and 46% of men were affected by psychiatric disorders. It further stated that those who were employed most of them had no mental disorders. Further, the dependency on alcohol was nearly 57%. There is also clear evidence among adolescents in many communities of high rates of suicide and substance abuse.

The Canadian aboriginal people face a set of mental challenges. The aboriginal people who experience mental health problems are much likely among the people living on and off the reserve than the rest of the Canadians. The group seeking mental health care is higher among the aboriginal people as high as 17% as compared to the rest of the Canadian population at 8%. There are still serious concerns regarding the mental disorder and social ills, for example, violence, suicide substance abuse, and addiction among the aboriginal communities and people(Kirmayer, Brass & Tait, 2000). The major cause of these problems is linked closely to the loss of indigenous culture, the imposition of European culture self-determination, and lifestyle.

Mental Health Challenges

Suicide

Suicide is a tragic reality of the loss of human life in the Inuit and First Nations communities. The experience of the suicide rate is higher between the two communities than the whole Canadian population. The suicide rates figures are shocking among the Inuit communities as it stands at 6-11 times the Canadian average(Khan,2008). Since 1999 in there have been 27% of suicides of all deaths in Nunavut. This figure registers the highest suicide rates in the world. This rise will continue among the youth. The situation is no better for the First Nations as the suicide rates are twice the national average with no sign of decreasing soon (Kestler-D’Amours 2016). However, it is essential to note that suicide rates exhibit uniqueness from the community to the community. For several years, some communities have had few or no suicides, while others have epidemics of suicides (Khan, 2008). Females attempt suicide more are compared to males in both aboriginal groups, which is a trend also seen the general Canadian population, but there is an alarming difference in rates. In the aboriginal survey conducted, the reported attempted suicide was 19 percent for females and 13 percent for males while the Canadian average is 2 percent for males and 4 percent for females (Khan, 2008). However, the rates of completed suicide cases are higher among males. With the age group of 15-24 of young adults representing the highest rates of suicides (Kielland & Simeone). For the same age group, the completed suicide among the First Nation young adults is five to seven times the average Canadian. Suicidal thoughts are experienced in youth who either have had a parent who attended a residential school or who have a close family member who had in the past 12 months had committed suicide. The possible underlying factors that have led to an increased rate of Suicide among Inuit communities correlate to risk factors, as suggested by a recent study of suicides in Nunavut.These factors include sexual abuse, unemployment, substance abuse, and exposure to violence and diagnosis of major depressive disorders (Khan, 2008). Furthermore, the studies observed that elevated rates of mental health problems correspond to determinants of health changes. It follows that experiences of difficult life can usher in the onset of mental issues (Boksa, Joober &Kirmayer,2015).

Depression

In the Canadian population, depression is a life-changing and common mental illness. First Nation people hold this idea true in the sense that they experience a twice-major depression the national average.For example, a survey in 1997 indicated that 16 percent of the First Nation Adults who live on reserve experienced major depression as compared to the general Canadian population of 8 percent (Khan, 2008). The study further found out that 26 percent of First Nation people, who experienced depression, claim that there was interference in their lives by depression compared to 16 percent of the overall Canadian population. Among the Inuit people, the depression rates indicated a below figure of the Canadian average. Statistics found out that 3 percent suffered the depression, while 6 percent are at high risk (Khan, 2008). However, t5he statistics do not reflect the real picture bearing in mind that the suicide rates are high in this group. Another possible explanation for these low figures is that it is not easily possible to identify depression in men as it usually manifests itself in drug problems and violence. The 2008-2010 survey findings on the First Nations Regional Health Survey show that on-reserve people experienced moderate to high levels of anxiety and depression (Khan, 2008).

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

The use of alcohol is a serious concern of Inuit and First Nation communities as the survey shows that nearly 75 percent of all residents acknowledged the use of alcohol as a community problem. In comparison, 33 percent of all the residents admit that alcohol use is a problem in their household. Furthermore, 25 percent indicate that the existence of a personal problem with alcohol. Interestingly lower than average of aboriginal drink alcohol (Tait, 2003). Compared to the general Canadian population, 66 percent of the First Nations adults who live on reserve consume alcohol t 76 percent(Khan,2008). It clearly shows that those who drink consume more on one occasion. Data retrieved from health records in Alberta indicated that men admitted to the hospital are due to the problem of the use of substance among the First Nation people other than other residents. Additionally, the First Nation use of cannabis is 27 percent 32 percent for adults and youth, respectively. However, the survey revealed progress made in alcohol use reduction and drug use among the communities (Boksa, Joober &Kirmayer, 2015).

Treatment

Prevention programs and health services are essential to prevent and treat serious mental health issues. In Inuit and First Nations communities, there are joint efforts between aboriginal organizations and numerous government agencies to address the disparities in mental health and improve mental health services. Aboriginal communities have come up with innovative and effective mental wellness programs (Boksa, Joober &Kirmayer, 2015). These programs are based on a strong sense of family and community while incorporating the western elements of medicine with locally-based approaches, for example, traditional activities and land-based. Aboriginal people harbor a holistic point of mental wellbeing (Khan, 2008). To them, mental wellness means a state of family, community, and a more abundant environment balance. Therefore, treating them requires models of treatment that keep them top of the surroundings and not removing them from their surroundings, as it will not work. Inuit and First Nations communities have developed a framework of treatment, which is culture, and spirituality.Community and family play a key role in helping an individual to regain a sense of balance. Identifying the strengths of families and communities involves effective treatment. Programs of treatment are built on those strengths of families and communities. There is the strong motivation among the aboriginal people to take up control of local health services to build and invent their own solutions for mental health challenges. This initiative creates a sense of collective pride and responsibility as a positive step to deal with the mental health of aboriginal.

Conclusion

Aboriginals, compared to the general population experience higher mental health problems rates. The existing disparity is an occasion by unique contextual factors that contributed to the mental health challenges in those communities. These factors include their difficult access to health services, colonialism, and other discriminatory policies on the “primitive and uncivilized ” aboriginals. The concept of cultural continuity provided the varying mental health among aboriginal’s points to the promising indicators to give the communities protective factors, which ultimately will improve mental health outcomes. So far, there are good signs that incorporating cultural continuity into health service is the best practice to deal with the mental challenges of the aboriginals. The concept is a brilliant idea to assist the communities with a framework to develop mental health programs and services. However, more research is needed to find the best ways to link the cultural continuity into health service to ensure it remains acceptable by the people and to achieve the best results ever.

Further, exploring the best ways to integrate the cultural continuity in the aboriginals is relevant as organizations gear towards best design and health services provision. Lastly, there should be clear steps to actively support and encourage the young aboriginals’ training of health professionals to help death with their own easily as they understand and have full knowledge of the community culture. It is imperative also to acknowledge that the development of relevant mental health programs must be guided by local indigenous knowledge to succeed (Boksa, Joober &Kirmayer, 2015).

References

Boksa, Patricia, Ridha Joober, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. “Mental wellness in Canada’s Aboriginal communities: striving toward reconciliation.” Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience: JPN 40, no. 6 (2015): 363.

Kestler-D’Amours, Jillian. 2016. “Canada And The Aboriginal Mental Health Crisis.” Aljazeera.Com. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/canada-aboriginal-mental-health-crisis-160317100523366.html.

Kielland, Norah, and Tonina Simeone. 2011. “Current Issues In Mental Health In Canada: The Mental Health Of First Nations And Inuit Communities.” Lop.Parl.Ca. https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201402E.

Khan, Saman. “Aboriginal mental health: statistical reality.” Vis J 5, no. 1 (2008): 6-7.

Kirmayer, Laurence J., and Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, eds. Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. UBC Press, 2009.

.

Kirmayer, Laurence J., Gregory M. Brass, and Caroline L. Tait. “The mental health of Aboriginal peoples: Transformations of identity and community.” The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 45, no. 7 (2000): 607-616.

Tait, Caroline L. Fetal alcohol syndrome among Aboriginal people in Canada: Review and analysis of the intergenerational links to residential schools. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2003.