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On the heels of Word Mental Health Day, dozens of tribal representatives along with Montana’s governor are fighting to reduce and prevent American Indian youth suicide. Tribal Governments, Urban Indian Health Centers, Indian Health Service, Department of Public Health and Human Services, and the Montana State Legislature are working together at the Zero Suicide Academy in Helena.

“Zero Suicide Academy is a major step forward in a statewide effort to reduce native youth suicide,” said Governor Bullock. “I applaud the dedication and commitment of this incredible group of individuals who are uniting in this challenging work to ensure that zero suicides in Montana can become a reality.” 

Released in January 2017, this training is a critical component of the Montana Native Youth Suicide Reduction Strategic Plan. The plan, which includes four pillars, aims to ‘establish a statewide infrastructure to reduce Native youth suicide by building upon the best practices available for regional and local impact.’ A major piece of the first of four pillars in the Native Youth Suicide Reduction Plan is to launch a statewide Zero Suicide Initiative, which includes the Zero Suicide Academy.

According to DPHHS Director Sheila Hogan, the Zero Suicide Academy event is designed to provide specific, actionable information and has been tailored to meet Montana’s needs. “It really speaks to our State-Tribal partnerships in addressing important issues together that we think will lead to better outcomes,” Hogan said.

Hogan also said the agency worked closely with the Tribes and Urban Indian Health Centers and Indian Health Service to identify the key participants to attend the Academy as there are a limited number of available slots. “Those who participate in the Academy will then be encouraged to return to their communities and begin the process of implementing the Zero Suicide framework,” Hogan said. “This has been a partnership in every sense of the word and we’re excited to move this forward together.”

Coalition chair Loren Bird Rattler of the Blackfeet Tribe said the Zero Suicide approach focuses on a system-wide approach to improve outcomes and close gaps rather than on the heroic efforts of individual practitioners.

This integrated approach will require engaging leadership in each community to examine current policies and practices and committing to Zero Suicide in health and healthcare settings. It will require training frontline staff to conduct universal screenings and risk assessments as one part of a comprehensive system-approach to suicide care. It will challenge behavioral health systems to provide the quick response and care needed.

Read more at ABCFoxMontana.com

Planning a party or event when you have a loved one who is in recovery can be tricky. You want your guests to have fun and feel welcome, but you also want to make a comfortable environment for your friend or family member. Creating a sober-friendly event takes a little work, but it will be worth it in the end if it helps your loved one.

When going through recovery, many people experience depression and other mood disorders and have a hard time being social. They may withdraw from friends and family because they feel like a burden or because they just don’t have the energy or the right mindset to be around others. Going to parties can be a stressful ordeal because they know they’ll have to answer uncomfortable questions or dodge temptation.

If you can create an environment where they feel relaxed and welcome, that’s one step closer to their own healing. Here’s how.

Remove temptation: While the word “party” is often associated with substances, you don’t have to include them to have a good time. Give your event a fun theme and stress that it’s kid-friendly, which will alert your guests that you won’t be relying on alcohol to show everyone a good time.

Focus on the food: One of the best ways to help your guests have fun without substances is to focus on the food. Create several “stations” around the event area for desserts, appetizers, and finger-foods rather than having them all in one place or making it a formal dinner. This will allow your guests to mingle and mill around instead of crowding awkwardly around one table.

Mood lighting is key: Your loved one may feel anxious in a room with lots of people, so lower the lights and give the party a relaxed feel. Create different seating areas to encourage conversation and have a “quiet room” where anyone can go to simply sit and take a break.

Keep it safe: If your loved one is okay with you serving alcohol at your event, be sure you keep it up out of reach of little hands. Get familiar with how much alcohol you have on hand, what type it is, and how quickly it’s being used up. Have a bar area that will be watched over at all times by a responsible adult so that young people don’t have a chance to sneak a drink. It may seem like harmless fun to them, but many kids and teens develop harmful habits later in life if they are exposed to substances early on. In fact, Redfin.com published an eye-opening article about how much children can be affected by the things adults use.

Keep it low-key: It can be stressful for a person in recovery to attend a party during the holidays, as these are the months when temptation often rears its head. If you’re entertaining during this time, keep things relaxed and low-key rather than forcing games or activities on everyone. Play soft music, set out lots of good food and non-alcoholic drink options, and have a separate area for kids who want to play and might become loud. Set out board games, video games, puzzles, and art supplies for little ones so they can entertain themselves.

Remember that your loved one may not stay for the duration of the party, and that’s okay. The fact that they’ve shown up is a step in the right direction. Allow them to have fun at their own pace and decide when they’ve had enough so they will feel in control and confident.

Learn more at CADCA.org

Domestic violence among tribal communities faces different barriers, laws and challenges.

A new domestic violence crisis line specifically aimed to support those in tribal communities across the U.S. opened its phone lines, so to speak, earlier this year. Advocates who answer the phones at the StrongHearts Native Helpline (1-844-7NATIVE) are Native American, bringing to survivors who call an acute understanding of American Indian and Alaska Native cultures and the challenges that surround reporting and finding help for domestic violence.

With some 568 federally recognized tribes in the U.S., “the issues are very complex,” says Lori Jump, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the helpline’s assistant director. “Because of the political status we enjoy in the U.S., when we talk about tribes, we have to remember they are actually nations with all of the rights of sovereignty that go along with nations. Tribes can create their own tribal courts and laws, and very few people understand the complications that can come from that.”

Statistics show that 84 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women have endured violence in their lifetime, with more than half of this violence inflicted by an intimate partner. More than two-thirds have been victims of psychological aggression, and more than half of these survivors have also endured sexual assault. Another 48 percent have been stalked by a partner.  In comparison, similar studies show 35 percent of women in the general population experience rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner.

In addition, Jump says Native American women are fives times more likely than non-native women to experience abuse by a non-native partner. The reason? Until an expanded version of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) passed in 2013, tribal courts did not have jurisdiction over non-native perpetrators. “They were rarely prosecuted,” says Jump. “We couldn’t even give them a slap on the hand. So justice was denied to all of those survivors.”

It was in 2012 that the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center and the National Domestic Violence Hotline began talking about how to support tribal communities with a dedicated hotline. “One thing we noticed was that the rate that Native Americans were reaching out to the national hotline didn’t necessarily match up to the high rates of violence. We wanted to be able to respond to that,” says Jump.

“We are a new service unlike anything else in Indian Country. It’s hard to reach out in our small tight-knit communities because there’s a fear of being identified as a victim when speaking out. There is a historical reason for the distrust, due to a legacy of failed interventions that only time and dedication will alleviate,” the helpline’s Communications Manager, Mallory Black says.

The helpline’s initial service area includes Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, though callers outside of these states can still call StrongHearts while the helpline continues to develop its services network. Advocates are able to utilize the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s database to help callers find resources, safety plan and acquire support, helping StrongHearts reach even the most remote of Native survivors.

Jump adds that anyone, Native or non-Native, can call in—from survivors to support persons looking to help someone who is being abused, to a person who simply wants to better understand the issues. “We are here to answer calls for anybody who’s looking for information,” says Jump. “We hope to educate people. There is a great need.”

Read more at DomesticShelters.org and learn more at StrongHeartsHelpline.org.

Most people who live with mental illness have, at some point, been blamed for their condition. They’ve been called names. Their symptoms have been referred to as “a phase” or something they can control “if they only tried.” They have been illegally discriminated against, with no justice. This is the unwieldy power that stigma holds.

Stigma causes people to feel ashamed for something that is out of their control. Worst of all, stigma prevents people from seeking the help they need. For a group of people who already carry such a heavy burden, stigma is an unacceptable addition to their pain. And while stigma has reduced in recent years, the pace of progress has not been quick enough.

All of us in the mental health community need to raise our voices against stigma. Every day, in every possible way, we need to stand up to stigma. If you’re not sure how, here are nine ways the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ Facebook community responded to the question: “How do you fight stigma?”

1. Talk openly about mental Illness
2. Educate yourself and others, sharing your own story if comfortable
3. Be conscious of the everyday language you use and their underlying implications for mental health
4. Encourage equality between physical and mental illness
5. Show compassion for those with mental illness
6. Choose empowerment over shame
7. Be honest about treatment
8. Let the media know when they’re being stigmatizing
9. Don’t harbor self-stigma

This is what our collective voice sounds like. It sounds like bravery, strength and persistence—the qualities we need to face mental illness and to fight stigma. No matter how you contribute to the mental health movement, you can make a difference simply by knowing that mental illness is not anyone’s fault, no matter what societal stigma says. You can make a difference by being and living StigmaFree.

Read more at NAMI.org.

Survivor Day is the one day a year when people affected by suicide loss gather around the world at events in their local communities to find comfort and gain understanding as they share stories of healing and hope. In 2016, there were over 350 Survivor Day events in 18 countries.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) will host gatherings in communities around the world to mark the observance. This year, all gatherings will include a screening of The Journey: A Story of Healing and Hope, a compelling AFSP-produced documentary about the suicide loss experience, as well the new follow-up featurette, The Journey Revisited, in which six of the original Journey participants gather three years later to reflect on how their grief and healing journey is evolving.

To find a Survivor Day event near you, click here.

AFSP provides tools for people who are interested in organizing an event in their community on Survivor Day 2017, which will be held on Saturday, November 18. If you would like to host a Survivor Day event, please have a look at AFSP’s organizer resources page to see what’s involved, and to determine whether you have the necessary time, experience, and volunteer support to host an event. If you do, AFSP welcomes you to fill out an event organizer application form.

If you have any questions, please contact Inge De Taeye, AFSP Loss & Healing Programs Manager, at idetaeye@afsp.org.

Learn more at AFSP.org.

“Being Asian, especially from an immigrant Asian family, we avoid these things,” Tran said. “There’s … a cultural idea that if you have a mental illness, you’re kind of like a person in the family that needs to be hidden away.”

When it comes to seeking help for mental health, the Asian-American community lags behind other groups, including by avoiding it completely. In fact, research shows Asian-Americans are three times less likely to seek mental health help than white Americans.

In the case of Asian immigrants like Tran’s family, many come from cultures that do not see mental illness as a legitimate illness, leading to stigma.

But a new generation of mental health care providers is trying to change that. They’re offering services like family-directed therapy and employing specialists who speak different languages to help immigrants who can’t comfortably express themselves in English.

Dr. Samantha Liu of Asian Community Mental Health Services has seen the effects of mental health stigma firsthand in her 20 years as a psychiatrist. She specializes in working with Asian-American patients, especially Chinese-Americans.

“When I see them, a lot of these patients come to me in severe conditions compared to patients of other ethnicities,” Liu said. “By the time they go to the doctor or psychiatrist, they are already in bad condition. It’s very hard for them to recover.” 

“There is a fear among the community that if anyone finds out, they will be ostracized,” said Dr. Vasudev N. Makhija, founder and president of the South Asian Mental Health Initiative and Network. “They will be worried about what others think and might say. Even for seeking emotional support, they just keep quiet and just suffer in silence instead.”

Many psychiatrists who focus on Asian-American communities believe it’s most effective to educate the entire family while treating the patient.

One approach that works is informing the immediate family, said Dr. Albert Gaw of Asian Community Mental Health Services, who has written about best practices for working with Asian-American patients. Makhija agrees, saying that when he sees Asian-American patients, the family often accompanies the patient to the interview room ― with the patient’s consent. Using this strategy, doctors will fully inform the family about the medications and treatment, as well as what symptoms to watch out for.

To spread awareness about mental health in Asian-American communities, some organizations host public workshops, health camps and community outreach events that offer screenings and discussion of common conditions like depression and substance abuse.

Read more at HuffingtonPost.com.