Aboriginal Mental Health Crisis in Canada

Manitoba First Nation Declares State of Emergency over Suicide Epidemic On March 9, 2016, a remote Manitoba First Nations community in Cross Lake declared a state of emergency after six suicides in the previous two months, and 140 attempts in the previous two weeks. This left the small community of 8,300 extremely traumatized and in need of immediate help from the provincial and federal governments. This particular reserve has a high unemployment rate of 80%, and an interviewed resident spoke about how traditional lands are regularly transformed into floodways and none of the promised economic development and employment programs have come into place. Alvin Fiddler, Grand Chief of the NAN (Nishnawbe Aski Nation), which represents 49 First Nations communities, stated “there is something terribly wrong with the delivery of the healthcare and public healthcare in the north”. His was one of the communities to undergo the state of emergency, and he reported that children as young as 10...

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: T...

In Canada, the term aboriginal or indigenous refers to Metis, Inuit, or First Nations. These people were the original inhabitants of the land that is now Canada, and there are currently about 1.4 million aboriginal people living in multiple communities and reserves around the country. They make up the largest share of population of 2 of the 3 territories - Nunavut and Northwest Territories. Approximately 22% of aboriginals live in Ontario, while around 15% live in each British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. (Statistics Canada, 2016) Figure 1. Graph showing distribution of aboriginals in Canada Figure 1.  Map of aboriginal identity and location in Canada. Adapted from  "Aboriginal Identity Population", by Government Canada, (2011), Indigenous  and  Northern Affairs Canada , retrieved from https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca /eng/1370438978311/1370439050610. Reprinted without permission.