{"id":36766,"date":"2024-04-29T19:22:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T23:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=36766"},"modified":"2024-04-29T19:26:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T23:26:31","slug":"cronkite-news-navajo-psychiatrist-addresses-mental-health-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/04\/29\/cronkite-news-navajo-psychiatrist-addresses-mental-health-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Navajo psychiatrist addresses mental health needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Richard Laughter says he is the only Native psychiatrist on the Navajo Nation. \u201cIf there was another Native psychiatrist, I think I would have found out through those circles,\u201d he said, referring to the small, interconnected circle of Natives who go to medical school for psychiatry. Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Navajo psychiatrist bridges gaps between Native American culture and behavioral health care<\/div>\r\n
Monday, April 29, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Mia Milinovich<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

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If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline<\/a> is available 24\/7. Call or text 988.<\/em>
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<\/p>\r\nGANADO — As a Navajo himself, Dr. Richard Laughter understands mental health issues experienced by members of the Navajo Nation on a deeply personal level. As a Native American psychiatrist, he breaks down accessibility barriers for his people by blending Native cultural practices with Western behavioral health care.

<\/P>\r\nAccording to Laughter, the rural nature of the Navajo Reservation greatly impacts the number of accessible behavioral health services because of the distances people have to travel to get to them. The Navajo Nation website says tribal lands cover 27,000 square miles in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe care service is very small because we are rural, the whole reservation is rural, so we\u2019re going to have a big shortage,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is some stability, but there is a lot of instability, too.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nThis lack of mental health care has impacted the Native American community at large. The suicide mortality rate for American Indian\/Alaska Native individuals (39.7 suicides per 100,000 population) was the highest of any racial and ethnic group in Arizona in 2021, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

<\/P>\r\nLaughter identified himself as the only Navajo psychiatrist on the reservation and pointed to the interconnected nature of providers on the reservation as evidence.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cFor some reason, psychiatry hasn\u2019t been big for the Navajos that have gone to medical school,\u201d he said. \u201cUsually, it is a small circle. If there was another Native psychiatrist, I think I would have found out through those circles.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nLaughter is working to bridge gaps in mental health care in his work for the behavioral health unit at Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado,

<\/P>\r\n\u201cMost people here are running into counselors, psychiatrists and nurse practitioners who are non-Indians,\u201d he said. \u201cThen, it\u2019s hard for them to communicate and relate. By me being Native, at least it kind of relaxes them, even though I don\u2019t speak the (Navajo) language.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n\"Sage<\/a>

The behavioral health unit at Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado, where Dr. Richard Laughter incorporates traditional Indigenous culture into his psychiatric practice. Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

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Personal connection<\/div>\r\nLaughter attended the University of Utah for both his undergraduate degree and medical degree and completed a four-year residency in psychiatry at the University of Nevada, Reno.

<\/P>\r\nHe worked for four years at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, a facility run by the Indian Health Service in Gallup, New Mexico, and went into private practice. He is now a key member of the behavioral health team at Sage Memorial Hospital, a unique Native-managed comprehensive health care system, poised to open a brand new 90,000-square-foot facility this summer.

<\/P>\r\nNavajo people often refer to themselves as “Din\u00e9,” which means \u201cthe people\u201d in the Navajo language. Another culturally significant way Navajo people identify themselves is through the clan system. Laughter\u2019s clans are Bit\u2019an\u2019nii, born for T\u2019od\u2019ich\u2019nii<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\nHe said clan systems relate to the word \u201ck\u2019\u00e9,\u201d meaning system of kinship.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThey say in Navajo, \u2018k\u2019\u00e9,\u2019 and that means we\u2019re all related, we\u2019re all here to help, we\u2019re all together on this life journey,\u201d Laughter said. \u201cThe clan system further divides what your relationship is with that other person. What it does is, I think, promote that harmonious life.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nAt the center of his decision to enter psychiatry, Laughter cited an intense desire to help his people.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWith our people, there is a lot of transition into the Western world and historical trauma,\u201d Laughter said. \u201cMy dad went to boarding school at Intermountain up in Utah, and they used to send people away to church homes. They figured that they would teach us English, even though they were fluent speakers of our language.\u201d

<\/P>\r\nLaughter said the transition away from Native culture drove his family to alcohol. He stayed away from it until the night of his high school graduation.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI tried it, and it relieved some of the stress that I was going through at home with domestic violence,\u201d he said. \u201cIt got me into some trouble. Not with the law, just being rowdy. Then, I gave myself to God and decided I wanted to help people.\u201d

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