Native American Rehab Centers

According to data provided during the 2015 United States Census, there are approximately 6.6 million Americans who identify as Native American or Alaska Native. While this number seems large, it reflects only two percent of the total United States population. Native Americans are significantly more likely to struggle with social and environmental issues that often lead to mental health challenges and substance use disorders. 

For decades, Native Americans American and Alaska Native have been disproportionately subject to struggles many other American citizens do not face. The demographic is more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to the general population and are more likely to experience interracial violence than any other ethnic group. Also, according to the United States Department of Justice, at least seventy percent of violent crimes experienced by Native Americans are committed by someone who does not identify as part of the same population. Over the last thirty to forty years, Native Americans have been increasingly relocated from reservations and rural areas to urban areas and cities. Today, nearly seventy percent of Native Americans live in urban areas, which is a significant change from their living environment a few short years ago. This results in reduced connection to their tribal communities, cultural history, and in some cases, immediate family. All of these factors contribute to declining mental health and increased substance use and abuse. 

The statistics among Native Americans and Alaska Natives are worrisome. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Indian Health Service Division of Behavioral Health Office of Clinical and Preventive Services, those who identify as Native American or Alaska Native are more likely to report a past-year substance use disorder than any other race. According to the Native American Center for Excellence, as many as nine percent of Native Americans between ages twelve and seventeen have an alcohol use disorder, as do approximately twenty-one percent of those aged eighteen to twenty-five. Across all age groups, illicit drug use is higher among these demographics than any other single ethnic group. Among Native Americans over the age of twelve, nearly fifty percent report marijuana use, seventeen percent report using cocaine or hallucinogenic drugs, almost twelve percent report using methamphetamines, four percent report using crack, and seven percent report misusing prescription drugs.