One consequence of ongoing inter-generational trauma is suicide. Suicide was unknown to Aboriginal people prior to invasion. Suicide now affects 95% of Aboriginal people in Australia, and is the fifth leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 1/3
In 2017, suicide remained the leading cause of death for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, accounting for 40% of all Indigenous child deaths. 2/3 #AusUPR20 #Auspol
“Death is our life,” said South Australian Elder Tauto Sansbury, describing the despair in Aboriginal communities Australia-wide. Aboriginal suicides have risen year after year, yet the Australian government has failed to adequately respond to this epidemic. 3/3 #AusUPR20 #Auspol
Photo taken by Brian Cassey in Aurukun, Queensland, Australia in 2017.

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More from @drlouisehansen

24 Feb
Psychosis:

“A mantra is a beautiful thing, there is no question about it, but nothing is bigger than silence.” - Sadhguru

“What if psychosis is not losing touch with reality? What if it is us touching reality?” - Dr Louise Hansen 1/29
The portal for genius is also the same portal for insanity. Like the matrix. There is no key. There is no door. There are no walls. The highest realisation: freedom. So how does one break the boundaries of their physical body and psychological structure? Clarity. 2/29
A large scale vision,
Borderless and boundless,
The highest realisation,
I am that which is not. 3/29
Read 30 tweets
24 Feb
The Nature of Aboriginal Suicide:

“It is widely accepted that the causal pathways to Indigenous and non-Indigenous suicide differ, although the precise nature of the differences is so far unclear (see, for example, Ridani et al., 2015).” 1/30 #UluruStatement #AusUPR20 #Auspol Image
“Westerman (2003) in her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research explored this issue via the development of a unique screening tool, the Westerman Aboriginal Symptom Checklist (WASC-Y: Westerman, 2003, Westerman, 2007, in preparation),” 2/30
“to identify Aboriginal youth at risk of suicide, depression, alcohol, and drug use, impulsivity, and anxiety. This enabled the exploration of whether there were factors unique to Aboriginal youth (aged 13–17) that could account for suicide risk.” 3/30
Read 31 tweets
24 Feb
“Sveticic, Milner, and De Leo (2012) analysed all suicides in Queensland between 1994 and 2007, finding the non-Indigenous cases were almost twice as likely to have ever sought help for mental health problems than the Indigenous cases.” 1/5 #AusUPR20 #Auspol Image
“This likely reflects a lack of cultural appropriateness of mainstream mental health services. Historically, research has not focused upon determining whether there is a different set of risk factors for suicidal behaviours that can be established at a population level.” 2/5
“This has meant that existing intervention or prevention programmes that have established themselves within a mainstream context often struggle to translate into effective community-based strategies for at-risk Aboriginal people.” 3/5
Read 5 tweets
24 Feb
Whole of community suicide prevention forums for Aboriginal Australians: “As a country facing this growing tragedy, we still have no nationally accepted evidence-based programmes across the spectrum of early intervention and prevention activities.” 1/9 #AusUPR20 #Auspol Image
“In the face of all this distress, communities, and families are often left to respond to these critical events in the absence of adequate support both in terms of culturally and clinically impactful counselling and therapy” 2/9
“as well as intervention programmes that are able to successfully target at-risk individuals. A qualitative study was undertaken by Nasir et al. (2017) who consulted both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members and organisations in Queensland” 3/9
Read 9 tweets
24 Feb
“Peak medical and health bodies have pressured Prime Minister Scott Morrison to declare Indigenous child suicides a national emergency after the deaths of five Aboriginal girls aged between 12 and 15 in January, 2018.”1/7 #UluruStatement #AusUPR20 #Auspol Image
“In a step towards tackling the crisis, chief executive of the National Mental Health Commission Christine Morgan was named Australia's national suicide prevention adviser. In response to the latest figures she released a statement which said:” 2/7
"This number represents our loved ones, who live in our diverse communities in each state and territory, rural and remote and in our suburban towns.” 3/7
Read 7 tweets
23 Feb
Fazel Chegeni wanted 'nothing but peace'. Instead he died alone in Australia's island prison. Ian Rintoul, said Chegeni’s death was “another needless detention death, this time of a refugee who should never have been in detention.” 1/16 #GameOver #TimeForAHome #Auspol
“The delay in processing and releasing him is inexcusable. He is a victim of the punitive regime detention regime that cares nothing for the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees,” he said. 2/16
More than 700 pages of the Faili Kurd’s immigration department file show how Fazel Chegeni was trapped in a bureaucracy that did not care for him. Over four years, scores of people within Australia’s immigration department pleaded on Chegeni’s behalf for him to be helped. 3/16
Read 17 tweets

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