Hope, belonging, purpose and meaning important in establishing resiliency during the pandemic

Feelings of being undermined, of distress, grief, loss and trauma are nothing new for Indigenous people.

It’s been experienced in the colonial context and once more it’s being experienced during these past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, said Dr. Christopher Mushquash, a psychologist in Indigenous mental health and addictions.

Turning to traditional ways, to culture and to those with shared identity, he says, allows for resiliency.

“To belong with others who have similar experiences, such that we can know that we’re not by ourselves in this, becomes very, very powerful medicines, very, very powerful ways in which we can begin to heal from this experience,” said Mushquash, Ojibway and a member of Pays Plat First Nation.

Mushquash was one of three doctors to speak on mental health and wellness as part of the regular First Nations Health Managers Association’s virtual town hall Feb. 1.

The fifth wave of COVID-19 with the highly contagious Omicron strain is hitting First Nations communities harder than the March 2020 first wave when communities took extreme measures to closely monitor access to their reserves, said Kim Daly, senior nurse manager with the First Nations Inuit Health Branch of Indigenous Services Canada

Daly offered up some disturbing figures. As of Jan. 26, First Nations on reserve had twice as many active cases as the general Canadian population, although this is slightly down from the previous month.

Daly said the second vaccine uptake is not quite at half the first dose uptake.

“I do hear it every day how we’re exhausted, but now is not the time to let up on this,” she said.

Dr. Brenda Restoule, psychologist and CEO of First Peoples Wellness Circle, said she is also quite aware of the fatigue people are experiencing.

“Resiliency really means being able to recover quickly or to spring back. But our communities are already struggling, so we want to be able to spring back better or we’ve heard the words ‘recover better.’ We need to know how can we do this … so resiliency must go together with healing,” said Restoule.

To that end, said Dr. Ed Connors, a Mohawk psychologist, “true health, healing and wellness” from an Indigenous way of knowing is a holistic approach that incorporates physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Connors said he was optimistic that Indigenous people were coming through the coronavirus pandemic and would now be able to look back at its impacts, but more importantly look ahead at how to “regain, sustain and build on what we’ve learned” about health, healing and wellness.

Connors said there are four questions that need to be asked and these questions relate to four important concepts that are all part of a mental wellness continuum.

The first question: Where do I come from? It relates to meaning, said Connors. The second question: Who am I? It’s about belonging and connection. The third question: Why am I here? It’s about purpose. The final question: Where am I going? It’s about hope.

“When we can answer these questions and as we answer these questions, we promote life. And if we do that and promote our lives and promote our health and wellness as we answer these questions, we then become more resilient to live a long and good life,” said Connors.

Moving forward, said Mushquash, it is important for people to take control of what they can. Self-efficacy, self-determination and agency have all been undermined by the pandemic.

“We can …. recognize that what we’re experiencing is distressing and then do the things we can to help manage that distress as much as possible,” said Mushquash.

Restoule pointed to physical wellbeing, eating better, connecting to the land and to people, connecting through ceremony, and giving to the Creator, as important ways of finding control.

“It is important to find a sense of being connected, to knowing that there are those in our communities who are always available and ready to support us, and that when we turn within, to our own sense of control of who we are, where we come from, we can find hope, belonging, purpose and meaning in our lives,” said Restoule.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are supported by a financial contribution made by the Government of Canada.