Essay On Native American Mental Health

Improved Essays
Native Americans have suffered many losses as settlers began forming what is known as the United States. Those losses can be identified as culture, religion, land, and language. It is important to understand what Native Americans have endured when working with this population. In addition to the continuous need for attention to mental health assessment, cultural obligations should be evaluated and interwoven in clinical practice. Native Americans have suffered much loss, but mental health continues to be an ignored issue among many different tribes across the nation. Healing from any abnormality requires consistency of medical therapies as well as fulfilling the cultural needs of Native Americans.
Historical trauma is the accumulation of emotional and psychological wounding that has occurred to a specific population over many generations. In understanding mental health, it is important to know what types of historical trauma the client may have undergone. Some historical traumas have occurred
…show more content…
The author West has suggested bringing back the basics of healing mental health issues into something that was preformed in primitive eras. With the increase of mental health issues in Native America, its important to explore every option as it might be a possible solution. Native Americans may have difficulty seeking suggested services for Mental Health issues as they have been coaxed and promised items in lieu of relocation onto reservations. In the Native American youth of today, it is very likely that they have experienced a loss of culture, land, language, and traditional way of life. These types of clients are often more likely to self medicate and participate in risky behavior in today’s society. The ways that self-medication occurred in the sense of alcohol, increased acts of physical aggression, increased sexual activities, and illegal

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Statistics show that Indigenous people who experience racism and discrimination in a healthcare setting are less likely to access, engage or comply with treatment (Awofeso, 2011). If healthcare practitioners are better educated in the history and colonization it will help change our perception of Indigenous people and be more willing to assist them by providing accessible healthcare. This can be achieved by providing healthcare workers with access to Indigenous cultural education and training opportunities. Training will increase the understanding of the cultural and historic reasons why Indigenous…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Imagine one, dwindling culture that has a 152% higher chance at winning the lottery compared to another population. Except the reward they win is not wealth, it is the rate of injury. For the Native American people, this statistic is true when juxtaposed to other Americans (Demographics). Similar to this, many unbalanced problems where Native Americans are on the inferior side of the scale compared to Americans with an alarmingly superior side, have appeared in native culture. The roots of these issues can be found starting in 1860, when the United States government established American Indian boarding schools to help bring education to the “lacking” Indians.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Religious Experience of Native Americans The Native American religious experience from before the European presence to the 20th century underwent many transformations throughout its evolution. In the beginning, the Olmec and Mayan hierarchical civilizations believed their kings, who were also their religious leaders, were able to communicate with the Gods and ancestors. This demonstrated how the early Native Americans believed that supernatural forces existed. This belief in the supernatural led to the Native Americans developing a cultural relationship between themselves and nature, with the intent to maintain a harmonic balance between the spiritual and living world (Unit 1, Lecture 1).…

    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    The study by Thao Le and Judith Gobert explore whether a mindfulness-based prevention can be translated and implemented in a Native American youth population. “Recent research estimates that Native American youth and young adult ages 15-24 have the highest suicide rate of any cultural or ethnic group in the United States, in fact, 2.5 times higher than the national average” (Le & Gobert, 2013, p. 1). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2014), suicide ranks the second leading cause of death for 10-34 years olds in the United States, so targeting a population between these ages would be the most helpful. The mindfulness-based strategy for reducing the risk of suicide will provide Native American youth with the tools to identify and manage self-destructive thoughts along with the guidance to deal with difficult thoughts and emotions. This strategy involves the ability to introduce sensory phenomena, thoughts, or experiences, on an instant-instant basis without reacting to the stimulation.…

    • 1420 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Choctaw Culture

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Choctaw Culture Assignment Kylee Carpenter, Danyelle Gray, Amy Russell and Christopher Willis Carl Albert State College December 3, 2015 Before the arrival of European ships, settlers and soldiers in the sixteenth century, the Choctaws flourished in southeastern North America, mainly in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. They were an ancient people who farmed, crafted, traded with neighbors near and far and built great ceremonial centers. The forces that brought together Native Americans and Europeans vary greatly, from land expeditions and missionary excursions to military conquests (Haag & Willis, 2001). After much resistance to the European way of life many Choctaws were relocated to present-day Oklahoma.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Native American History

    • 1665 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The living conditions on the reservations are often referenced to third world country. In 2011, the native’s suicide rate is 1.5 times greater than the general population. Suicide is there second cause of death. As a national average the native American’s child abuse is two times greater, however, rape incidence with women is two in a half likely than national average. Even though, alcoholism is within the youth, gang membership controls the youth as well.…

    • 1665 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Globalization is a highly influential trend that has impacted the majority of the world including some of the most indigenous tribes. In the past, globalization has been thought to be innovative due to advances in transportation, communication, and technology. However, the transfer to modernity has cause unfortunate setbacks regarding traditional people and their well-being. The reality being that most of indigenous tribes were forced to give up their culture or have been effected by globalization. These ideals have been extremely detrimental in terms of the loss in language and tradition among the indigenous people.…

    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Native ways of keeping culture alive must be revitalized, as colonization was detrimental but did not destroy everything. Indigenous relationships with the peopled universe emphasize environmental values and a way of being that holds strong to cultural values. Colonizers desperately tried to erase this deeply rooted culture, but it is hard to erase a link so completely tied to the land. Deeply embedded in each native person’s pedagogy is history, collective trauma, the reverberating effects of genocide and colonization, and yet Native peoples are resilient, proving strength time and time again.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    American Indians statistically suffer disproportionately from alcohol abuse compared with other racial groups in the United States. The factors that influence alcoholism among Native populations are still widely unknown, causing great health disparities in their people. To get an accurate perspective on alcohol use among Native Americans, examining different variants such as genetic and environmental factors would help determine if and why American Indians are predisposed to alcoholism. Recent research using linkage analysis has found that some Natives lack protective genetic variants. Other data illustrates the importance of socio-cultural and environmental perceptions on alcohol abuse.…

    • 2068 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Native Americans, which include the Navajo Tribe, have a very long standing in the history of the United States. They have also been removed from their homelands thought out the ages. Many of these tribes have been forced to reside on reservations. According to the Journal of Health Education, Native Americans out of the total population are the unhealthiest population. This is proven by a shorter life expectancy and higher mortality rates for communicable diseases.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In America, we have freedom of religion and every religion is accepted, but that was not always the case when the Puritans tried to force their religion on the Indians. Religion is a touchy topic in our society today, but not as much as it was when the Puritans first came to the New World and tried to force the natives to their religion. This created a conflict that got so heated it was a cause of war. This conflict makes us wonder, who started the fighting? Did the natives do something to the puritans or did the puritans do something to the natives?…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Suicide in Native Americans Suicide is a tragedy that runs rampant through our society. When a tragic event like this occurs, we are often left with what can we do to prevent such ideas. Native Americans are no stranger to this concept. Many kids in their community are seen to have higher rates of suicide compared to other Americans. While researching this topic I found it interesting how different sources approached and addressed this issue.…

    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Caddo Nation Case Study

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages

    According to Andrews and Boyle, Native Americans believe that heath is associated with the mind, spirit and connections with the creation and creator. Suppose a Caddo Indian was stricken with illness today, different ceremonies like seat lodging, traditional herbs, songs, dances, and prayers are used for healing (Andrews and Boyle 2012). In healthcare facilities clinicians should give patients time, space, and privacy to respect the family’s traditional healers; clinicians should also never interfere or interrupt the healer’s rivals so families will not distrust. (HCC 2013). Ultimately, the Caddo believe that the balance of harmony can be returned back to one’s life through rituals and…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The effect the European American’s culture had on the Native Americans is still very prominent today because the stereotypical American Indian still persists both in life and literature. By erasing their languages and teaching European ways exclusively, the Native American culture has slowly disappeared. The culture has been slowly degraded by an increase of acceptance of Native American stereotypical attributes such as alcoholism, laziness, and gambling addictions among others. Indigenous people were deeply affected by European American culture and have been fighting stereotypes to rebuild the foundations of their identity that have been neglected throughout a painful history. Often times, stereotypes can be positive, but more often than…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Short Story: “The Only Traffic Signal in the reservation doesn’t flash red anymore” Topic: The various ways that Native Americans have been oppressed. Thesis: Native Americans are the most oppressed minority in the United States. They suffer from horrible living conditions, plagued by poverty, sickness, terrible housing, and alcohol/drugs.…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays