Greenland Mental Health, Substance Abuse Struggles

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Imagine how depressing it is to live in a place that has no natural color, no trees, no bushes, no flowers, and brown grass. Greenland’s color is man-made, manufactured if you will. While industrialization and modernization of territories across the world have made the territory more technically advanced and human-friendly, Greenland’s modernization has brought color.

The lack of color brings down morale and overall happiness among the general population in Greenland. Merge that with multiple months of little to no sunlight in the winter, and you have a depressing combination. A culture known for its silence is facing a mental health epidemic. Suicide rates are high, residents who smoke and drink are high, and the happiness level of the population is low, not to mention the threats from geopolitical leaders that threaten the sovereignty of the territory Greenlanders call home.

A painting on the side of a building in Nuuk that indicates a industrial revolution is starting in Greenland.
A painting on the side of a building in downtown Nuuk, Greenland. Photo: Colby Lamb

According to a 2025 report from the National Board of Health in Greenland, translated to English, there were 50 suicides in Greenland in 2025, 0.88 per 1,000 citizens, the highest of the 2018-2025 time period. Greenland’s suicide rate is 7-9 times higher than the Danish and global levels, according to the report, but it’s worth noting the lack of population in Greenland that contributes to the high rate.

The report found that all suicides were alcohol related when information was available. Out of the 50 suicides, 84% were men, and the age group with the highest suicide rate was 15–24-year-olds.

Immediately off the airplane and entering the Nuuk airport, you get a whiff of cigarette smoke that seeps through the cracks, and frequent openings of a door that leads to the smoke room inside the airport. Next to a coffee shop sits a section with three or so shelves that display different kinds of beers, wines, liquors, and spirits.

Young Greenlanders play soccer in the street.
Young Greenlanders play soccer in the street next to a school in Nuuk, Greenland. Photo: Colby Lamb

Aqqalu Jensen, a fisherman who just arrived in Nuuk from Denmark, does two things immediately off the plane: buys a case of beer and takes it into the smoke room attached to the airport.

Vibrant, multi-colored buildings surround the streets of downtown Nuuk, comparable to a box of Crayola markers. Icy, sandy streets between the buildings border ditches sprinkled with cigarette buds, like ashtrays, and have alcohol cans and bottles mixed in.

Statbank Greenland reports that tobacco cigarette consumption has “dropped more than 30%” in the last 30 years. Statbank Greenland tracks the import weight of tobacco per person in grams. Cigarette imports peaked in 1996 with 3,256.87 grams, and in 2025, they were 1,027.19 grams, according to Statbank Greenland.

A man smoking a cigarette in front of the Greenlandic Parliament building.
A man smokes a cigarette outside the Greenlandic Parliament building. Photo: Colby Lamb

Svend Jensen, an Inuit native to Greenland, has battled Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) since his father died of cancer in 2023. Svend’s drinking problem has made him lose his jobs as a fisherman and a geological assistant, resulting in him becoming homeless.

“I became a drinker, like I became a drinker very much,” Svend said. “I lost my home because of that.”

Svend said there is a drinking problem in Nuuk, potentially going hand in hand with the homelessness he experiences. He added that there are “a lot of people” who share his story of drinking his way to homelessness.

“I have a lot of friends [who are] also drinkers,” Svend said. “A lot of people drink a lot.”

Despite Svend’s claims of a drinking problem in Greenland, Statbank Greenland reports that alcohol consumption has dropped “more than 30% over the last 30 years.” Peaking in 1987, Greenlanders consumed 22.23 liters of alcohol. Last year, 8.28 liters of alcohol were consumed per Greenlander, according to Statbank Greenland.

This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into Greenland’s people, history, and culture. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available on Edge of the Arctic: Greenland, the Land of the People.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club, and a private donor.