Emily Stallings
Kate Quick
WRTG 110
April 1, 2020
Suicide in Alaska
Suicide is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and is a major global health issue.
(World Health Organization) qtd in (O'Connor et al. #92). The CDC and the World Health
Organization estimated that 800,000 people die by suicide each year, and there are 25 million
nonfatal attempts of suicide annually. The World Health Organization is focusing on prevention
strategies and making videos. Prevention is more about at the moment checking on the people
you care about and getting them help if you are starting to notice the signs. Suicide is affecting
everyone around us today, and there needs to be more awareness and prevention. Suicide will
continue to affect the groups that are at high risk.
One of the groups that are high risk and the research that I have done hasn't touched on is
generational trauma and childhood trauma. Generational trauma or intergenerational trauma
(when you try to find sources) is a trauma passed down from generation to generation. For
example, Jane is a white female, and her great great grandparents survived the European Wars.
The traumas that are passed in this example are Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
alcoholism, sexual abuse, and emotional repression. For intergenerational trauma in Alaska, the
Natives and American Indians may be abused by alcohol and substance abuse. In the villages, it
might be poverty and homelessness, but it might be anywhere in Alaska.
(O'Connor et al. #99) states that you choose to pass it down to the next generation, not
working on your traumas from childhood or generational trauma. It also noted how daily stress
and emotions could increase the cortisol hormone levels in the body. Cortisol is a hormone that
helps your body deal with stress, but if you have too much cortisol hormone level, it harms your
body. Their recent work has shown the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
and the stress response system in suicidal behavior.
Generational trauma has been a significant health issue among Alaska Native and
American Indian tribes. Generational trauma is cumulative emotional and psychological
wounding derived from massive group trauma experiences occurring throughout generations.
(Evans and Davis #1) Generational trauma is associated with specific response features,
including depression, self-destructive behaviors, suicidal ideation and attempts, anxiety, low selfesteem, and self-mediating to hide painful emotions.
American Indians had to cope with the transgenerational trauma of European
colonization, which stripped many American Indians of their cultures. That includes the number
of lives lost, culture, and land as well due to the colonization. (Evans and Davis #2) Generational
trauma is exacerbated by racism, oppression of the Native people, and internal conflicts among
tribal members.
American Indian and Alaskan Native populations continue to struggle with the effects of
colonization and historical injustices, including the vanishing art of their cultures and languages.
American Indians and Alaskan Natives weren't allowed to practice their culture and languages in
schools during the European colonization and years after that.
This trauma experience to these races has impacted their youth, and they are at high risk for
health problems such as substance abuse, violence, mental illness, and suicide. Many American
Indians and Alaskan Natives are most likely to live in communities with higher physical and
mental health disparities and lower educational attainment rates than the rest of the U.S.
population. (Evans and Davis #2)
Alaska Natives' and American Indians' suicide rates are three times higher than
population groups with the lowest suicide rates. Since 2003, suicide rates have been 21.5
suicides per 100,000 people as of 2015. More than one-third of suicide victims among American
Indians and Alaska Natives are between 10 and 24 years versus about 11 percent of the white
victims. (Department of Health and Social Services) The statistics of suicides in the villages
versus cities is surprising. According to the Department of Health and Social Services in Alaska
statistics (Department of Health and Social Services) from 2007, the Nome Census Area and the
Northwest Arctic Area are more than 70 cases. That is the highest number of patients states in
the state of Alaska. The lowest cases in Alaska are Kodiak, Aleutians, Mat-Su Anchorage,
Kenai, Valdez-Cordova, Fairbanks, Southeast Fairbanks, Denali, Yukon, and the Southeast.
These cities have less than 30 cases.
The smaller villages have more effective suicide rates than the bigger cities. This reason
maybe because there are fewer activities to do in the towns. There are also fewer people in the
villages and not many people the same age as the teenagers committing suicide. But sometimes
the bigger cities are depressing as well. I should know I lost two classmates after I graduated
from high school and nobody knew that they wanted to die. But not all suicides happen on
civilian grounds; some happen on military bases as well.
Some military personnel is from villages in Alaska or other towns. But the people in the
military from the villages in Alaska aren't used to taking orders from others. Some other military
personnel are from the lower 48 and aren't used to what Alaska offers. The people from the lower
48 aren't used to not having the sun out during the winter. Even though we still get the sun but
it's States for short hours in a day.
Moving away from your family and everyone you know can be depressing. Some people
find in others that understand what it's like to live in a place without much sun. Suicides in the
military have to do with horrifying things they saw while deployed—not getting that out of your
mind. Being in a place where you are under attack and bombs are going off everywhere—not
knowing whether you will survive while in the warzone and seeing friends die in front of you
changes a person. Some military personnel had killed bad people, but that doesn't change that
they killed someone. The guilt of killing someone can take over, especially if it's against their
religion. The only way out that they see is killing themselves to end their shame, pain, and PTSD
flashbacks.
Drugs cause some suicides. People use drugs to not change their minds about committing
suicide. The group that uses this option the most is men. Men use drugs not to change their
minds and do anything necessary to do what they want. Drugs aren't the only option; weapons do
suicides, such as guns and knives, and depressive things like alcohol. Women will do the less
messy ways to commit suicide. Women are more likely to suffocate themselves or take drugs and
mix them with alcohol.
Prevention is a word that everyone hears often but what is not discussed is how to prevent
someone from dying from suicide? To begin preventing suicide is to be more vocal about mental
health and be more active against bullying in schools. Bullying is a significant issue still, and it
affects teenagers daily. Teenagers that are bullied might commit suicide to end the pain that is at
someone else's hands. The person bullying has the power to stop and apologize but not every
bully realizes it before it's too late. There need to be more efforts on preventing suicide and more
efforts on talking about mental health. There is a hotline that you can call if you are thinking
about suicide. 1-800-273-8255 is the hotline number you also can write to them online. 1-888628-9454 is for Spanish speakers and 1-800-273-8255 for veterans. There is another line for
people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In conclusion, suicide is the leading cause of death worldwide. There is no way a person
can see signs of suicide because it ties into mental health. Why do people commit suicide when
there are resources to get help. For the military, suicide is because they cannot forgive
themselves. After all, they have seen and done. For natives, it's the struggles that their ancestors
endured while the colonization happened. Call 1-800-273-8255 if someone you know or yourself
is thinking about suicide.
Works Cited
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