Suicide is a Serious Issue in our Communities. How Can We Deal with This?

Many Aboriginal communities are developing community-wide efforts to address the high rates of suicide. However, there are no easy answers.

What are Some of the Issues that Contribute to Suicide?

Suicide isn't usually caused by a single issue or event. It is usually the result of many combined issues that a person or community faces. Some risks factors that have been linked to suicide include:

• low self-esteem
• depression
• substance abuse
• other known suicides in someone's peer group, family or community
• feeling disconnected from family, peers, school and the community
• unresolved grief or trauma, as a person or in a community
• a history of emotional, sexual or physical abuse
• poverty.

Although these factors have been linked to suicide, they don't necessarily mean that people who have some or all of these traits will become suicidal.

How Can I Tell if Someone is Thinking about Suicide?

There are danger signals that may appear in someone who is thinking about suicide. These signals include:

• past suicide attempts
• saying things like, "I wish that I were dead" or "Life is hopeless"
• depression
• changes in behaviour like giving away personal possessions or changes in spending habits
• drastic changes in sleep patterns like either over-sleeping or not sleeping
• changes in eating patterns like either overeating or having no appetite

What Can Aboriginal Communities Do to Deal with the Issue of Suicide?

Aboriginal communities can do many things to help reduce the risk of suicide. They can:

• develop school activities that focus on self-esteem and mental well-being
• hold community-wide cultural activities and healing ceremonies
• make sure that professionals such as community workers, doctors and teachers in the community are trained in suicide prevention.
• offer substance abuse programs
• offer treatment and counselling services as well as peer support and mentoring programs.
• monitor suicidal individuals.

Additional Resources

• Acting on What We Know: Preventing Youth Suicide in First Nations - Health Canada
• Assessment and Planning Tool Kit for Suicide Prevention in First Nations Communities - National Aboriginal Health Organization
• Aboriginal Youth: A Manual for Promising Suicide Prevention Strategies - Centre for Suicide Prevention