In the US, the rate of suicide has increased more than 25% over the past 10 years. It presently is the highest in American history. Furthermore, existing research paints a devastating picture of the mental health of American Indian youth, with suicide being the leading cause of death for American Indians aged 10-25. No other ethnic group in the United States experiences such rates of suicide among this age group. In some regions the suicide rate is 12 times higher than that of the general population. Despite having a population of just 20,000, suicide attempts are seen on a near daily basis in the Pine Ridge community hospital ER.
Pine Ridge is one of the most neglected areas of the United States for mental health care and services. A lack of educational and by extension economic opportunities, unresolved historic grief, a deficient healthcare system, and myriad other systemic factors all contribute.
While local agencies have noble and admirable intentions, they are understaffed, poorly funded, and underutilized in the community. Extensive coordination of these organizations is a specific goal of Asniya’s current work funded by the Sidney Baer foundation.