Campbell - Mental Health and Native American Religion
From The Healing Power of Heritage, Monitor on Psychology (pp. 44-51)
One of the most complicated problems that modern psychologists and psychiatrists aim to tackle is that of culturally-sensitive mental/emotional support. Considering the ethnic conglomeration of people in all nations, particularly in the melting pot of the United States, the struggles and experiences which one endures are commonly tied to their personal backgrounds. This is especially difficult for Native Americans because of the mental health issues which their communities so commonly face. According to Mental Health America (2010), Native Americans suffer from serious psychological distress at a rate 1.5 times higher than the average population, and abuse alcohol and other drugs at younger ages and higher rates than all other ethnic groups in the United States.
Despite these blatant dilemmas, mental health support and advocacy in Native American communities is severely lacking. A root issue of this is modern psychology's focus on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which is a highly successful approach for many groups in the American population. However, there is a critical element that is absent in this model: spirituality. Native Americans' well-being is heavily tied to their religiosity, and a major issue among those natives who are suffering from mental illness or substance abuse stems from the disconnect between themselves and their spirituality. Thus, psychologists who primarily fixate on the mental and emotional well-being of these native populations have taken up new methods in treatment and preventative care. Heather Stringer (2018), a writer for the Monitor on Psychology, states that "today's work in indigenous communities is informed by these lessons from the past, and cultural heritage is proving to be a powerful force in combating these public health crises" (p. 46).
One such method of addressing and resolving these issues is targeting youth in Native American communities to prevent them developing mental health disorders and substance abuse problems. Mental health advocates create programs for these adolescents to participate in alongside elder members of the community, engaging in traditional activities related to their tribe. The Yup'ik people of Alaska, for example, undertake outdoor ice training and crafting ayaruk, a tool historically used in their tribe to test the density of the ice. After exposing over 600 youth to these programs, results found that young people in 'higher-intensity implementation,' i.e. more time involved doing traditional activities with their tribal community, experienced "significantly more protections from suicide, specifically...higher levels of beliefs and experiences that make life enjoyable, worthwhile, and provide meaning" (p. 48). Clearly, spiritual involvement guides Native Americans to improved emotional well-being.
I feel that this is a considerably important topic to both understand and employ. When we think of primal and native religions, we typically view them in the past tense. However, many of these religions thrive in close-knit communities of contemporary practitioners, and strains from the modernized world can be detrimental to these spiritually-sensitive peoples. As a psychologist hoping to make a career in counseling, I would like to see more of these culturally-aware practices being put to use in the realm of mental health. No one deserves to suffer from emotional problems or struggle with substance abuse, and a simple understanding of spirituality and cultural tides can make a tremendous difference in the procedures used to treat religious people.
In what ways can cultural sensitivity be effective in the minority cultures of the United States? In what ways might it be detrimental?
One of the most complicated problems that modern psychologists and psychiatrists aim to tackle is that of culturally-sensitive mental/emotional support. Considering the ethnic conglomeration of people in all nations, particularly in the melting pot of the United States, the struggles and experiences which one endures are commonly tied to their personal backgrounds. This is especially difficult for Native Americans because of the mental health issues which their communities so commonly face. According to Mental Health America (2010), Native Americans suffer from serious psychological distress at a rate 1.5 times higher than the average population, and abuse alcohol and other drugs at younger ages and higher rates than all other ethnic groups in the United States.
Despite these blatant dilemmas, mental health support and advocacy in Native American communities is severely lacking. A root issue of this is modern psychology's focus on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which is a highly successful approach for many groups in the American population. However, there is a critical element that is absent in this model: spirituality. Native Americans' well-being is heavily tied to their religiosity, and a major issue among those natives who are suffering from mental illness or substance abuse stems from the disconnect between themselves and their spirituality. Thus, psychologists who primarily fixate on the mental and emotional well-being of these native populations have taken up new methods in treatment and preventative care. Heather Stringer (2018), a writer for the Monitor on Psychology, states that "today's work in indigenous communities is informed by these lessons from the past, and cultural heritage is proving to be a powerful force in combating these public health crises" (p. 46).
One such method of addressing and resolving these issues is targeting youth in Native American communities to prevent them developing mental health disorders and substance abuse problems. Mental health advocates create programs for these adolescents to participate in alongside elder members of the community, engaging in traditional activities related to their tribe. The Yup'ik people of Alaska, for example, undertake outdoor ice training and crafting ayaruk, a tool historically used in their tribe to test the density of the ice. After exposing over 600 youth to these programs, results found that young people in 'higher-intensity implementation,' i.e. more time involved doing traditional activities with their tribal community, experienced "significantly more protections from suicide, specifically...higher levels of beliefs and experiences that make life enjoyable, worthwhile, and provide meaning" (p. 48). Clearly, spiritual involvement guides Native Americans to improved emotional well-being.
I feel that this is a considerably important topic to both understand and employ. When we think of primal and native religions, we typically view them in the past tense. However, many of these religions thrive in close-knit communities of contemporary practitioners, and strains from the modernized world can be detrimental to these spiritually-sensitive peoples. As a psychologist hoping to make a career in counseling, I would like to see more of these culturally-aware practices being put to use in the realm of mental health. No one deserves to suffer from emotional problems or struggle with substance abuse, and a simple understanding of spirituality and cultural tides can make a tremendous difference in the procedures used to treat religious people.
In what ways can cultural sensitivity be effective in the minority cultures of the United States? In what ways might it be detrimental?
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