Native American Teen Suicide
Argument Proposal

You are watching the news when another Native American child just took his life. You turn the television off and go about your day. That kid just fades into another statistic. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in Native American youth; “Suicide rates for Native American youth are four times higher than that of any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. In the past decade, these rates have only increased” (Urbanski, 2023). The suicide rate for Native American youth is quickly rising and becoming a major problem, but there are ways to prevent the numbers from going up any further. Providing better access to care and delivery that these children need would be a start to reducing the numbers. According to Stone et al. (2017), “over 85 million Americans live in areas with an insufficient number of mental health providers; this shortage is particularly severe among low-income urban and rural communities.” In Native American communities, this number is exceptionally higher. To gain better access to the help they need, there are Telemental Health services or TMH for short. These services include the use of a telephone, using video and web-based technologies to provide psychiatric or psychological care from a wide range. It improves access to care for patients in remote places, as well as lowering their travel time and costs. It also significantly lessens the delays in receiving care and helps improve the interaction between them so they can go back to them in case of a relapse. However, some kids may not be able to get to where these programs are located or want to open up to the people about their mental health. There is evidence supporting that the Telemental Health services help. “A systematic review of TMH services found that services rated as high or good quality were effective in treating mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, suicidal ideation and suicide” Stone et al, (2017). In the same review, “they also found that treatment attrition rates were significantly lower among patients receiving telephone-administered psychotherapy compared to patients receiving face-to-face therapy” Stone et al, (2017). Native American kids getting provided more access to mental health programs will considerably lower the rates of suicide in native american youth but will not completely stop them. Another solution to lower the suicide rate would be connecting the native american children to their culture. “Communities that had embarked on cultural reclamation efforts reported lower suicide rates among their youth” (Chandler & Lalonde, 1998). Although, some kids may not want to have a deeper connection with their culture or past because of problems in their family. “At the individual level, school completion, a commitment to tribal spirituality, and a sense of cultural belonging are associated with reduced suicide attempts” (Freedenthal & Stiffman, 2004; SPRC, 2013; Wexler et al., 2015). In these efforts to decrease the suicide rate, these children are taught their traditional language, being taken to cultural centers, and the inclusion of a strong inner-self orientation. In reports, kids connecting to their heritage have remarkably decreased depressive symptoms along with their satisfaction levels being increased. It is not guaranteed to completely eradicate suicide, but if Native American youth are given a chance to connect with their past, as well as get in touch with their present and future, the suicide rate would drastically lower. Creating a protective environment would be another effective method to reducing the rate of suicide in Native American youth. The use of firearms, hanging/suffocation, or leaping from tall places results in little chance to save the afflicted person.“Research has shown that people tend not to substitute a different method when a highly lethal method is unavailable or difficult to access. Therefore, increasing the time interval between deciding to act and the suicide attempt, for example, by making it more difficult to access lethal means, can be lifesaving” (Stone et al, 2017). Putting barriers and installing telephones at suicide hotspots like bridges, cliffs, railway tracks, rooftops, etc., would reduce the risk of suicide. “After erecting a barrier on the Jacques-Cartier bridge in Canada, the suicide rate from jumping from the bridge decreased from about 10 suicide deaths per year to about 3 deaths per year” (Stone et al, 2017). Also keeping guns put away in gun cabinets and locking medicine up would prove effective. “In a case-control study of firearm-related events identified from 37 counties in Washington, Oregon, and Missouri, and from 5 trauma centers, researchers found that storing firearms unloaded, separate from ammunition, in a locked place or secured with a safety device was protective of suicide attempts among adolescents” (Stone et al, 2017). Some youth will find ways to go around all the safety barriers and get their hands on anything even remotely lethal to them if desperate enough. Creating safe environments for at risk native youth will ultimately reduce the rate ot suicide in native american children. It’s important to remember that the suicide rate for Native American youth is extremely high due to a multitude of things and it will take time to bring it down. Methods like providing greater access to mental health professionals and connecting these children to their heritage can be proven effective if done so correctly. The suicides will never completely stop but we can reduce the rate by over 50% if we combine all these methods and practices and implement them into schools and communities where native children are most vulnerable.