Unveiling the taboo of suicide in Native American communities

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, in 2017, suicide was the leading cause of death in Arizona.

The statistics are devastating and unfortunately, the topic is still taboo.

Rayna Villasenor has had two of her loved ones die by suicide, and she too attempted suicide twice in her life.

Now, she wants all youth, including those on the Quechan Reservation where she’s from, to learn from her experience and to know that life is worth living.

These days, Rayna Villasenor finds peace in walking through Sunrise Park appreciating nature’s beauty.

She remembered a dark moment in her life, over 10 years ago, she said she stared in the mirror of an employee bathroom at work with 40 oxycodone pills in her hand.

She said she was not able to see her own reflection.

” After I did ingest [the pills], no more than five seconds [later], I heard my kids cry. I have three children and at the time they were little. But they were nowhere around. And when I ingested, I knew within no more than five seconds I made a mistake, ” Villasenor said.

She described her life at that time as blanketed in a depression that stemmed from an abusive marriage and a history of trauma.

Villasenor said even though she tried to take her own life, she didn’t want to die.

Instead, she wanted help, and for someone to hear her cries.

” I was never taught to be aware of the signs. I wasn’t raised that depression comes in this form. When really it comes in odd forms, ” Villasenor explained.

She believes suicide oftentimes is a quick action as a result of unrecognized depression, saying, ” Honestly, I feel suicide is more prevalent [in Yuma and on the Quechan Reservation]. It’s just not spoken about because it’s such a taboo. Especially in Native American communities, it’s not spoken about, it not even a thing we’re supposed to even talk about. ”

Villasenor saw a need for more suicide prevention programs across the Quechan Nation and in Yuma County.

The Centers for Disease Control reported that Native Americans ages 18 to 24 have higher rates of suicide than any other ethnicity.

So, in hopes of changing those numbers, Villasenor created an online support group, Native Cry Outreach Alliance, to help change the narrative surrounding depression and suicide in the Native American community.

She said family and friends who are concerned about a loved one should gradually and gently ask, ” Is there something you think you can live for? Is there somebody you have in your life that if you were to die tomorrow…would that harm or hurt them inside? ”

Also, bringing awareness to the language associated with this sensitive reality, Villasenor asked people to use the phrase ” die of suicide ” instead of ” commit suicide ” .

She said, ” It’s not a crime, and a lot of individuals have to see that point. ”

Villasenor expressed how suicidal thoughts and depression are a never-ending struggle for some people, but she wants them to know it’s a continuous journey of finding and fulfilling your purpose.

Right now, she finds purpose in being a caregiver for her 73-year-old mother and being able to share her story.