TAKING ON A DEADLY CRISIS
Plan targets staggering suicide rate among First Nations peoples
A First Nations group working to prevent suicide has found the rate of suicide among First Nations girls in Saskatchewan, aged 10 to 19, is 26 times higher than for that age group in the province generally.
Troubled by the crisis, Saskatchewan chiefs directed the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) in May to make suicide prevention a high priority and ordered it to develop a prevention strategy by May 31, 2018.
On Friday — World Suicide Prevention Day — FSIN Vice-Chief Heather Bear released a discussion paper on the working group’s findings so far.
“There has never been a suicide prevention strategy for our people by our people,” Bear said.
The jarring numbers gathered from the Office of the Chief Coroner of Saskatchewan between 2005 and 2015 include:
—493 of the 1,707 suicides were First Nations (FN).
—The suicide rate for First Nations people overall is 4.3 times higher than for Saskatchewan overall.
—The rate for FN women in their 20s is 11 times higher than for that age group overall.
—The rate for FN boys age 10 to 19 was six times higher.
—The rate for FN men in their 20s is seven times higher.
—Teens make up 25 per cent of FN suicides.
—People younger than 30 make up 62 per cent of FN suicides.
—The rate of suicides drops among FN people over age 50, but increases among the overall Saskatchewan population after age 50.
First Nations people on reserves, and in the north especially, lack access to mental health services. A child referred to an educational psychologist may wait two to four years for treatment, said Kim McKay-McNabb, a member of the working group who has a private practice in psychology.
Much study has gone into suicide, which kills more than 800,000 people worldwide each year.
Another working group member, Jack Hicks, said it’s premature to say exactly why rates are so high among Saskatchewan First Nations people, but a large body of research shows differences are “socially determined.”
Research shows adverse childhood experiences are a major suicide factor, Hicks said. They include emotional, physical and sexual abuse, witnessing domestic abuse, parental separation, and living with substance-abusing, mentally ill or criminal household members.
Intergenerational trauma, such as that associated with Indian residential schools, is among the key factors behind elevated rates of suicide behaviours, the research shows.
The working group also examines what has worked to lower suicide rates in other places, including Quebec, which once had the highest rate in Canada. Its 1998 prevention strategy “was adequately funded and aggressively, thoughtfully and effectively implemented,” resulting in a sharp decline between 2000 and 2010, the paper states.
Saskatchewan has no suicide prevention strategy, “and apparently no plans to develop one,” the paper adds. A copy of the discussion paper can be found on the FSIN website at www.fsin.com.
The working group will see if Saskatchewan can use a successful program the White Mountain Apache of Arizona used to reduce suicide rates by 38 per cent since 2006.
The First Nations suicide prevention strategy will emphasize strengthening the ability of tribal councils and individual First Nations to address suicide behaviour, Bear said.