The Facts: Aboriginal Mental Health Statistics

What many people fail to realize or even turn a blind eye to is that there are serious concerns about mental illness and social ills such as substance abuse, suicide, and violence among the vast majority of aboriginal communities in Canada. The reality is that suicide and self-inflicted injuries are the leading causes of death among First Nations youth and adults under the age of 44 (Kestler-D'Amours, 2016). A study found that nearly a quarter of First Nations adults reported contemplating suicide at some point in their life, in contrast to the 9% of Canadians from the general population who had similar thoughts. This study also found that approximately 20% more First Nations adults reported moderate or high levels of psychological distress (Tahirali, 2016). 
Figure 2. Suicide rates among First Nations, Inuit, all Canadians
Figure 2. Suicide rates per 100,000 of population among  all Canadians, 
Inuit, and First Nations. Adapted from "Aboriginal Mental Health: The
statistical reality", by S Khan, (2008), here to help: mental health and 
substance abuse information you can trust, retrieved from http://www.here
tohelp.bc.ca/visions/aboriginal-people-vol5/aboriginal-mental-health-the-
statistical-reality. Reprinted without permission. 

Figure 3. Comparing aboriginal and non-aboriginal suicide rates
Figure 3. First Nations Suicide Rate vs. Non-Aboriginal Population. 
Adapted from  "Suicide among Canada's First Nations: Key numbers",
by M Shulman, (2011), CTV News, retrieved from http://www.ctv
news.ca/mobile/health/suicide-among-canada-s-first-nations-key-
numbers-1.2854899. Reprinted without permission.
































For the Inuit community in particular, suicide rates are shockingly high at 6-11 times the Canadian average, and in the territory of Nunavut alone, 27% of all deaths since 1999 have been suicides (Khan, 2008). It was also discovered that aboriginal youth with a family member who had committed suicide in the past 12 months, or who has a parent who attended a residential school, were more likely to experience suicidal thoughts (Khan, 2008). Epidemics are common as one suicide in a community can trigger many people to do the same (McGill University, 2001).

Figure 4. Deep thought over water
Figure 4. Person looking out into the distance, thinking deeply.
Adapted from "Canada and the Aboriginal Mental Health Crisis", 
by J Kestler-D'Amours, (2016), Aljazeera, retrieved from http://
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/canada-aboriginal-
mental-health-crisis-160317100523366.html. Reprinted without 
permission.


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