Suicide in U.S. Indigenous Persons: Reframing the Etiology and Solutions
Authors: Joseph P. Gone
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2023)

Editorials19 December 2023Suicide in U.S. Indigenous Persons: Reframing the Etiology and SolutionsJoseph P. Gone, PhDJoseph P. Gone, PhDDepartment of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M23-3218 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Indigenous persons in the United States are distinguished by who we count as kin. Indeed, our lives are organized by expansive kinship connections and relations. These ties convey strength but also vulnerability, as suicide haunts most of our extended families. Thus, we urgently need more and better research on who tries and who dies by suicide. We recognize that these community losses recreate long legacies of social suffering, often referred to today as “historical trauma” (1). We seek conceptual frameworks that will recast our understanding of suicide as deeply entangled with conditions of coloniality. We desire creative inquiry that will ...References1. Gone JP. Indigenous historical trauma: alter-Native explanations for mental health inequities. Dædalus. 2023;152:130-150. doi:10.1162/daed_a_02035 CrossrefGoogle Scholar2. Wexler L, Chandler M, Gone JP, et al. Advancing suicide prevention research with rural American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Am J Public Health. 2015;105:891-899. [PMID: 25790403] doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302517 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Suicide Clusters within American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations. HHS publication no. SMA17-5050. Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2017. Google Scholar4. Dhungel B, Shand F, Nguyen P, et al. Method-specific suicide mortality in the United States in the 21st century. Ann Intern Med. 19 December 2023. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.7326/M23-2533 LinkGoogle Scholar5. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consort. Alaska Native Mortality: 1980–1998. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consort; 2001. Google Scholar6. Conrad P, Bergey M. Medicalization: Sociological and anthropological perspectives. In: International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier; 2015:105-109. Google Scholar7. Caplan N, Nelson SD. On being useful: the nature and consequences of psychological research on social problems. American Psychologist. 1973;28:199-211. doi:10.1037/h0034433 CrossrefGoogle Scholar8. Hicks J. The social determinants of elevated rates of suicide among Inuit youth. Indigenous Affairs. 2007;4:30-37. Google Scholar9. Chandler MJ, Lalonde C. Cultural continuity as a hedge against suicide in Canada's First Nations. Transcultural Psychiatry. 1998;35:191-219. doi:10.1177/136346159803500202 CrossrefGoogle Scholar10. Fish J, Ansloos J, O’Keefe VM, et al. Truth and reconciliation for whom? Transitional justice for Indigenous peoples in American psychology. American Psychologist. 2024. [Forthcoming]. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Joseph P. Gone, PhDAffiliations: Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsDisclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-3218.Corresponding Author: Joseph P. Gone, PhD, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Tozzer Anthropology Building, 21 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138; e-mail, jgone@g.harvard.edu.This article was published at Annals.org on 19 December 2023. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoMethod-Specific Suicide Mortality in the United States in the 21st Century Bibha Dhungel , Fiona Shand , Phuong Nguyen , Yijing Wang , Sayuri Fujita-Imazu , July Khin Maung Soe , Jinzhao Xie , Xinran Wang , Jinghua Li , Stuart Gilmour Metrics Latest Keywords Indigenous populations Psychiatry and mental health Racism Suicide ePublished: 19 December 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...