[newtus]

if a native american in todays world in the southwest reservation was having delusions? got schizophrenia? i heard they are actually very poor and jobs are desolate there.

[Gr3tta]

I'm curious why you think it would be different for a native american vs. An american of any other ethnicity?

[newtus]

Originally Posted by Gr3tta

I'm curious why you think it would be different for a native american vs. An american of any other ethnicity?

because on the reservations they actively believe their tradtion as it has been. they make their kids get up early as praise the sun and other things.
i think it would be a little different. but not much. i dont mean their ethnicity but the ones on the reservations but you knw you cant live there unless your native american.

[justmeandmyhead]

I think they would be worshiped rather than feared.

[Gr3tta]

So if they would be treated differently/receive different treatment based on cultural beliefs?
I wonder if anyone here is Native American?
One of my friends taught on a reservation in Colorado for 2 years. Medical care really wasn't much different than anywhere else for low income families. That might not be true on all reservations though.

[newtus]

i thought little didgee was NA. idk though.

get a white american kid getting up every morning worshipping the sun and going on long treks and at night kissing the ground on his/her knees every night - thats not their culture of the caucasian american. so i would see that as delusional.

but its not just NAmerican. i mean on the reservation where they actively practice that stuff. i saw that on a documenary about the lakota reservation.

but the docu wasnt about native americans it was about the dwindling state of the reservations. so naturally was about native americans.

[mimi2112]

I have Native American blood and am hoping to get more in touch with my Choctaw roots. I believe that the culture is strongly influenced by Spirit, and that is what intrigues me. I believe if people in the Native cultures have visions or practice rituals, they are not ostracized but revered. In modern society it seems people are called delusional or insane if they believe that their ancestors can be invoked, like in the Indian practices.
So yeah, Newtus, I think to answer your Q., in my opinion the Native American culture would be less likely to label us as crazy and treat us as crazy, because they themselves practice a belief system that includes visions and voices and revelations, etc.

[newtus]

@mimi

i thoght so too
i watched the documentary and they said they actively teach the children the native tongue and keep up with native practices such as sacrificing sheep and getting up in the morning to praise the sun and go on long treks at night to praise the sun going down. (thanking the sun). they said they also dont have bathrooms in their houses. (idk if all of them do or not).

they ALSO siad they still revere their medicine elderly men in modern day native on the reservations. they said they have hallucinations in of their medicine practices but see it as visions. they even said that "the white man" would see it as hallucinations but the natives think of them as visions. THEY said that.

BTW this is ON the reservations. idk about off.

i saw 1 docu. but this specific one was morgan spurlocks 30 days in another persons culture. he was a native on the reservation with some of the natives. morgan spurlock had hallucinations doing the mudcleansing from dehydration but the natives said it was visions. ill try to find the documentary too if i still can.

[newtus]

how much native do you have in you mimi?
i found out i had at least 15 percent. my mom found out she had at least 30 percent if not more. but she is mexican and i am half mexican. my native american accounts more as mayan. but i do have some choctaw roots on my dads side and im sure some things on my moms too.

[mimi2112]

My maternal grandmother was Choctaw. My father was born on the rez. in Oklahoma. I think I am 1/4 or 1/8. Hard part is I lost touch with my Dad years ago and I think i'd have to track down his birth records to find out for sure. I want to do that someday so that I can register. I was told I need to be at least 1/8 to register as Indian. As far as I know that is what is needed to be on a rez, and be accepted as true Indian.

I do want to see the documentary that you mentioned, it sounds good.

Thank you for sharing.

[newtus]

some of that that i put that i saw was from 30 Days a morgan spurlock tv series. they show where he was having hallucinations.

episode 306 Life on an Indian Reservation July 8, 2008

[newtus]

i couldnt find it on youtube

but maybe you can on amazon. or something similar. i watched it on xbox movies. but

heres a documenary called Life on the Reservation on youtube

[newtus]

heres about Pine Ridge reservation and the bad unfortunate things about it

[mimi2112]

I watched the Morgan Spurlock one on Netflix. I have always liked his docs. He always is so real and human and emotional. I like how he connected so well to Gramma in the doc. I really liked how he had a spiritual experience in the mud hut.
Thanks Newtus.

[newtus]

me too! glad you liked it!

[The_little_didgee]

The manifestation and understanding of psychosis depends on culture. In North American Indigenous cultures psychotic symptoms are seen as a gift that the individual is a healer. Dissociation and acute psychosis are generally considered a spiritual crisis that needs to be resolved with the assistance of a healer or medicine person.

We all know what the Western world thinks.

In the past rates of schizophrenia were lower in Indigenous communities. This was probably due to the emphasis of community and the slower pace of life.

P.S. Not all Native communities are third world towns. The one I belong to is not.

[newtus]

Originally Posted by The_little_didgee

The manifestation and understanding of psychosis depends on culture. In North American Indigenous cultures psychotic symptoms are seen as a gift that the individual is a healer. Dissociation and acute psychosis are generally considered a spiritual crisis that needs to be resolved with the assistance of a healer or medicine person.

We all know what the Western world thinks.

In the past rates of schizophrenia were lower in Indigenous communities. This was probably due to the emphasis of community and the slower pace of life.

P.S. Not all Native communities are third world towns. The one I belong to is not.

thank you. i didnt mean to be disrespectful. i didnt think they were third world at all.

i attributed slower pace of life to it too. . but i do know medicine men help and they oversee many things health wise.

i think the fact that yes this society is so fast paced and your looked down on if you dont keep up at any age is a horrible thing.

[The_little_didgee]

Originally Posted by newtus

thank you. i didnt mean to be disrespectful. i didnt think they were third world at all.

I did not take it as disrespect. Canadian news has a bad habit of depicting First Nations communities as desolate places plagued with alcoholism. People tend to believe the media who are very guilty of sensationalizing stories. I just wanted to add that so that people don't think we are all drunks on welfare.

Originally Posted by newtus

i attributed slower pace of life to it too. .

It is also the societal demands we place on ourselves. We compromise ourselves to conform. For sensitive and vulnerable people this can contribute to psychosis.

Originally Posted by newtus

i do know medicine men help and they oversee many things health wise.

Medicine people can really help individuals recover. Rather than treating psychosis as a disease, the voices and other perceptual slippages are embraced. One learns how to cope with them and gain a sense of control.

Perhaps this change in attitude from disease to gift contributes to recovery.

Originally Posted by newtus

i think the fact that yes this society is so fast paced and your looked down on if you dont keep up at any age is a horrible thing.

It is stressful trying to keep up.

Since Western society emphasizes individuality, I often wonder if it contributes to mental illness, because a person has to figure out their direction on their own. Is mental illness also a result of too much freedom?

[newtus]

such great answers. youre great!