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The National Alliance on Mental Illness calls intentionally injuring one’s self by cutting, burning or some other method a misguided way of coping with emotional distress. Statistics on how self-harm affects specific populations are hard to come by. One study by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health in 2008 looked specifically at the White Mountain Apache Tribe and found children as young as 10 harming themselves. It concludes it’s a mental health concern that goes largely unaddressed in the tribe and mostly likely other tribal nations. Several tribes have developed systems to monitor self-harm as a way to prevent suicides.
Guests:
Pamela End of Horn (Oglala Lakota) – IHS National Suicide Prevention Consultant
Angelita Lee (White Mountain Apache) – research program coordinator for the Johns Hopkins University Center for American Indian Health
Yvonne “Tiny” DeCory (Oglala Lakota) – Coordinator for the Oglala Sioux Tribe suicide prevention program
Break music: Mahk Jchi (song) Pura Fe (artist) Full Moon Rising (album)
