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Behavioral Health Broadcast

for National Suicide Prevention Month

Friday, September 23, 2022

Why We Focus on Suicide Prevention

September is National Suicide Prevention Month

All month, we unite to promote suicide prevention awareness by sharing stories and providing resources. Suicide statistics for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) are devastating. But, behind statistics are the names and faces of our relatives—our families, friends, community members, and loved ones across Indian Country. It is more important than ever that we equip ourselves with resources that help protect our relatives and promote thriving, healthy lives for now and Seven Generations to come.  

To better understand what we can do, we must first face some alarming statistics that reveal the unacceptable disparities in suicide rates that are impacting Indian Country. However, our work is one of hope and healing. Let's explore these statistics together and provide paths of protection, support, and connectedness that can save lives.    

American Indians and Alaska Natives experience the highest age-adjusted rates of death by suicide of any group in the United States. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall death rate from suicide for AI/AN adults was about 20 percent higher compared to the non-Hispanic white population. By the end of 2020, that number increased to 40 percent. For our Native veterans—who serve in the United States Armed Forces at a higher rate than any other group—suicide rates increased by 146% between 2014 and 2018. 

We encourage you to read the full Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Suicides Among American Indian/Alaska Native Persons – National Violent Death Reporting System, 2015-2020. There are several key findings that provide insight and hold potential for more effective suicide prevention planning for Tribal nations and communities.

Among those findings:

• 75% of AI/AN suicides were among ages 44 and younger, with the greatest proportion among people ages 25-44.
• Nearly 45% of AI/AN suicides were in nonmetropolitan areas.
• AI/ANs were more likely than others to disclose suicide intent prior to death and more likely to experience family and relationship problems, job and income loss, alcohol and amphetamine use, and interpersonal violence prior to death.
• Sadly, AI/ANs were less likely to have known mental health conditions or to have accessed any mental health or substance use treatment.

There is much work to be done to reduce these disparities and address the specific circumstances that contribute to suicide in our Tribal communities.

Suicide is preventable, and there is hope! Together, we can help each other protect our relatives. Tribal communities know that our greatest strength and healing resides in connectedness to our AI/AN identities—our languages, practices, ceremonies and community bonds. 

Recent studies and reports only confirm what our Tribal communities have known--and said--all along: historical and intergenerational trauma are the poisonous roots of health disparities. To heal, we need comprehensive, trauma-informed services that are Tribally driven and that respect the specific Tribal determinants of health that impact our minds, bodies, hearts, and spirits. 

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) consistently advocates for Tribes to receive direct, non-competitive funding that honors the federal trust responsibility and respects Tribal sovereignty—funding that supports Tribes in providing culturally-informed and community driven suicide prevention programs with relational support. To find out more about NIHB's behavioral health work and priorities, see the NIHB 2022 Legislative and Policy Agenda for Indian Health. 

NIHB also serves as the non-federal co-lead of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s AI/AN Task Force. Throughout the year, NIHB hosts conferences, webinars, listening sessions, and forums to bring national attention to the full spectrum of behavioral health needs of Indian Country, especially suicide prevention.

Together, we are stronger. Together, we pursue a comprehensive, culturally responsive approach to suicide prevention that will reduce disparities and keep our relatives healthy, safe, and thriving. 

For more information on NIHB's Behavioral Health work, please contact Nathan Billy, Director of Behavioral Health Programs, at nbilly@nihb.org