Introduction

In very many developed nations that have indigenous communities, sound health was achieved from the balance of the mind, the body and the spirit. The discussion below which takes the form of an annotated bibliography designs a collection of academic literature with high amount of respect to indigenous communities though outlining the causes of suicide in local communities.

Summary

Indigenous communities have high rates of suicide compared to foreign communities. However, suicidal behaviour is said to be from lots of causes as quoted in the reading materials that have been used to design this annotated bibliography. Suicidal behaviour is believed to an act of forcing death to oneself.

Roland, E. (2002). Bullying, depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts. Educational research, 44(1), 55-67.

Over the past decade, an increased attention to the relationship between bullying and suicide has been recorded both from the victim and the perpetrator’s side. Roland (2002) in his study performed a meta- analysis to design a reliable estimation between suicidal behaviour and bullying. In his study, he summarizes that indigenous communities have been great victims of mental illness as a result of depression which has led individuals from these communities to opt for suicide. For Roland, it is the factor of depression that has escalated the rates of suicide in local communities. I chose this article for my research because it addresses one point of suicide which many people fail to look at-Bullying and depression. It also includes very helpful statistics which might be used to bring the aspect of bullying and depression to the public’s attention.

Blaauw, E., Arensman, E., Kraaij, V., Winkel, F. W., & Bout, R. (2002). Traumatic life events  and suicide risk among jail inmates: the influence of types of events, time period and  significant others. Journal of traumatic stress, 15(1), 9-16.

In this article, the authors studied the connection between suicide risk and traumatic life events in samples of jail inmates of those with low and high risks of being suicidal. In their research, non-suicidal inmates recorded relatively high prevalence to events of trauma; suicidal inmates had exceptionally high prevalence. Suicidal inmates recorded instances of maltreatment, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and suicide attempts. This research concluded that traumatic life events and suicide had a causal relationship and that this relationship is high in local communities. I chose this research because it is in depth and it is a good resource for addressing suicide in prison and other correctional facilities.

Chino, M., & DeBruyn, L. (2006). Building true capacity: Indigenous models for indigenous communities. American journal of public health, 96(4), 596-599.

Apart from addressing the issue of suicide, Chino and DeBruyn (2006) claim that is now time for local people to develop tribal programs which is not an enough strategy but also define how to integrate these programs into public health. This article points to suicide as one of the leading cause of death in local communities. And while people think people in local communities are having fun and excitement, suicide victims are not considered in this case. This research is an important section in creating awareness particularly when it comes to pointing the warning signs from a suicidal person. From reading this article, one can tell the warning signs of an individual who is suicidal and talk to an educator within the community before it is too late. This article is a good resource because it narrows down its study to how addressing suicide at community level is significant and explains certain situations which can help assist a suicidal individual.

Wexler, L. M., & Gone, J. P. (2012). Culturally responsive suicide prevention in indigenous  communities:             Unexamined assumptions and new possibilities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 800-            806.

Native communities have recorded significantly higher suicide rates that non-local communities. This is what this article summarises. In this study, authors explore the existence of cultural misalignment with the contrasting of 4 normative assumptions that make it hard to exercise standard measures of suicide prevention in North America. Drawing evidence from more than 3 decades of administrative, clinical and research findings in suicidal communities, the authors also examine the significance meanings of suicidal models and their performance in local communities. The comparison used in this research is useful in my study because of its emphasis in the promotion of cultural appropriate behaviours in maintaining proper health and intervening in tribal communities.

Elias, B., Mignone, J., Hall, M., Hong, S. P., Hart, L., & Sareen, J. (2012). Trauma and suicide  behaviour histories among a Canadian indigenous population: an empirical exploration of  the potential role of Canada’s residential school system. Social science & medicine, 74(10), 1560-1569.

There have been lots of theories that the rate of suicide and suicidal behaviours in local communities could be as a result of traumatic life experiences particularly those experienced during colonization. This is true particularly in Canada where survivors of abuse, torture and mistreatment during times of colonization reported suicidal behaviours. This study looks into the residential school system with an aim of investigating whether survivors had transmitted traumatic life experiences to their children and if this transfer was associated with suicidal rates. This research concluded that individuals who had first-hand history with abuse would impact the record high rates of suicide on their children, an area of research which was not well investigate. To conclude this research, these authors demonstrated at the population level that traumatic events survivors’ children would have higher rates of suicidal behaviour in local communities. I chose this article because it shows how suicidal thoughts can be potentially transferred from one generation to another and explains how children end up committing suicide with the experience of their parents.

Chang, A. B., Grimwood, K., Mulholland, E. K., & Torzillo, P. J. (2002). Bronchiectasis in indigenous children in remote Australian communities. Medical Journal of Australia, 177(4), 200-204.

Bronchiectasis has remained a significant leader in morbidity in local populations, this article concludes. A higher percentage of patients who record suffering from bronchiectasis has also recorded an increase in suicidal thoughts. Because local communities have little access to medical facilities and improved medical attention, there are likely to fall sick. Because most of the local communities have low education and civilization, they are highly exposed to drug abuse and instances of death which is enough evidence for increased suicide in indigenous communities. These researches claim that the low nature of education and civilization has become an increasing contribution to why so many youths are losing hope in life and decide to end their lives. This article is significant because of its factual and emotional nature of how local communities are striving to prevent the rates of suicide among youths. I chose this article because it helps us see the need for therapy in suicidal cases.

Conclusion

Higher rates of suicide are as a result of many factors as pointed out above with more rates represented in local communities compared to foreign communities. However, there is a deeper understanding on the occurrence and the causes of suicide rates coupled with an understanding of how to prevent and reduce the cases of suicide to save the lives of individuals in local communities.