The incidence of youth suicides has increased dramatically among the Inuit in Greenland since the modernization started in the 1950s. Suicides currently peak at age 15-24 Men: 400-500, Women: 100-150 per 100,000 person-years. The methods are drastic: shooting or hanging. An early peak was seen in the capital, a later peak in the rest of West Greenland, and high and increasing rates in remote East Greenland. Suicidal thoughts occur more often in young people who grew up in homes with a poor emotional environment, alcohol problems and violence. There is a definite correlation with several aspects of the modernization process but it is hard to pinpoint causal relationships. It is rather the "modernization package" that should be regarded as risk factors for suicides.
Introduction. There are many indications that mental health in Greenland is endangered and needs more attention. Study design. A two-stage study of the prevalence of common mental disorders among a sample of primary health care patients. Methods. 376 randomly selected patients from general consultations in two Greenlandic towns were screened with 12 questions from the General Health Questionnaire. From these patients, a sample of 100 patients, including more high-than low-scorers, was interviewed using the SCAN (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry) Present Examination psychiatric interview. Results. Estimated prevalence for the total study population of at least one psychiatric diagnosis was 49.3% (95% CI 39.7-59.0%). Most diagnoses were in the group of anxieties, somatoform disorders and depressive disorders. Many patients had more than one diagnosis. Lack of education and poor proficiency in Danish, as well as growing up in a family with severe alcohol problems, were high risk factors for a psychiatric diagnosis. Patients and physicians seemingly agreed on focusing on physical disorders at the consultation, and only a minority of mental disorders was recognised and treated as such by the physicians. Conclusion. Mental disorders are prevalent but not sufficiently recognised and treated among patients in primary health care in Greenland. Their association with social and economic conditions calls for attention from the health services as well as from social and educational institutions.
Den grønlandske befolkning adskiller sig på mange måder fra den danske, genetisk så vel som hvad angår historie, kultur og livsbetingelser. Men det grønlandske sundhedsvæsen bygger på danske traditioner, hvilket gør sammenligninger mellem sygdomsmønstre i de to befolkninger interessante. Med baggrundsinformation om livet i det traditionelle inuitsamfund, Grønlands kolonihistorie og de sidste 50 års modernisering sættes fokus på skizofreniforekomsten før og nu. Skizofreni er et meget alvorligt sundhedsproblem, da tilstanden rammer fundamentale funktioner som kontaktevne, tænkningens form og indhold, sprogbrug, viljes-og handlingslivet og følelseslivet. Trods uhyre omfattende forskning er skizofreni stadig en gådefuld tilstand. I artiklen sættes fokus på sociale forandringer og kulturkonflikter som mulige aktører i udviklingen af skizofreni.
Manic-depression is a recognizable diagnostic category in Greenland. Extremely low rates of unipolar disorders in both sexes and high rates of bipolar disorders among women were the most marked findings.
The Organization of Nordic Council for Arctic Medical Research (NCAMR, or NoSAMF in Scandinavian languages) was initiated by the governmental Nordic Council in 1966. The new council was charged with the task of promoting arctic medical research in the Nordic countries. It began its duties in 1969. Originally the council covered Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden; Iceland joined as a member in 1977. During the first years the NCAMR held two to three conferences a year, the proceedings of which were communicated in the Nordic Council for Arctic Medical Research Reports series, distributed in about 1500 copies, free of charge. In 1971, 1981, 1987 and 1993, the NCAMR hosted the International Congress on Circumpolar Health and played a pivotal role in the establishment of the International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH) in 1986. Thereafter, the activities of the NCAMR developed a much more international character. Accident prevention, cold research, pollution, family health and, in later years, the health of indigenous peoples, became priorities, along with the establishment of international research networks. The NCAMR's report series soon developed into an established international journal under the title Arctic Medical Research. The inter-governmental financial support to the NCAMR was discontinued at the end of 1996. Thereafter, the secretariat operated under the auspices of the University of Oulu. The International Journal for Circumpolar Health, as it was named from 1997, continued to flourish, being published by the IUCH, the Nordic Society for Circumpolar Health and the University of Oulu.
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