MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Mental Illness and the Muslim American Community The traditional stigmatization of the mentally ill needs to end BY STEPHENIE BUSHRA KHAN
M
ental illness can be debili- she will keep repeating this deed (“Sahih further complicates mutual acceptance. Many tating, making it difficult to go al-Bukhari,” book 23, hadith no. 446). new Muslims carry a lot of emotional baggage about one’s daily business life or into their new religion and feel that although household responsibilities. Many POSSIBLE CAUSES Islam has been their salvation, those who immigrant Muslims experience a great deal of Some evidence indicates that American con- were born Muslim are another story. discrimination and adjustment problems after verts, especially Blacks, experience new difBelief brings strength. There are challenges arriving in this country. Converts also face a ficulties. This is especially true for Muslimas of being accepted by other Muslims, especially great deal of adjustment, which also adds to who wear the hijab and modest clothing when marrying into another culture. High mental health challenges. divorce rates and mainstream stereotypes may persuade future in-laws to Estimates of the Muslim population vary, especially in the absence oppose the marriage because of the of a faith-identified census. Current language barrier and necessary culstatistics reveal that Muslims make tural adjustments. This leaves the up at least 1.1% of the nation’s popucouple in immense pain (“Muslims lation and that about half of them are Are Welcoming Towards Muslim American-born. Converts, But Parents Rather Don’t Recently, mental health concerns Have One Marry Their Daughter,” have become a growing problem https://mvslim.com). among this population. They often A mental health diagnosis feels like experience isolation and rejection one’s heart and soul are breaking, as if and feel out of place in mainstream it were a weakness or a punishment culture. Additionally, immigrants from God. Such Muslims become coming from war-torn countries very secretive, feeling that they will usually bring their traumatic expebe judged. Some assume there is a riences with them. cure in praying, whereas others think In the U.S., suicide is the second that they will not get better. But mental illness is not a weakcause of death among those aged 15-34 years old. This is also true for ness, for it may be caused by chemical the Muslim community. Research has imbalances in the brain or emotional been very sparse, but the figures are trauma. Unfortunately, some Muslims lower than other faith groups (David avoid the mentally ill because such Lester, “Islam and Suicide,” https:// people have been traditionally stig The author’s painting, rendered when she was very doi.org/10.2466/pr0.2000.87.2.692). matized in their birth lands. Often overwhelmed, titled “My Song Goes Unsung Today,” represents the family rejects the diagnosis and People may consider suicide due a saddened woman. The sunflowers represent and the sun that to discrimination, adjustment probthus leaves the patient untreated. Any life still goes on. ( (c) Stephenie Bushra Khan. With permission) lems, the shame of abuse, trauma, extreme psychotic or violent behavior substance abuse, abandonment (e.g., divorce (https://www.aclu.org/other/discrimina- is hidden. or death), neglect, the belief that no one cares tion-against-muslim-women-fact-sheet). When a woman experiences postparand other causes. As immigrant parents have Some families cut them off altogether, and tum depression, she needs support. Others higher expectations for their children, failing friends often break relationships because they may assume that she lacks sufficient faith to live up to them can cause these youth no longer have much in common. (https://www.phawellness.com/2017/09/01/ Gaining the acceptance of first- and sec- islam-say-postpartum-depression/). a sense of failure and extreme depression. There is also the added shame of suicide, ond-generation Muslims can be difficult, for Overwhelmed with motherhood, depressed given the Quranic statement that such people converts may be seen as not Muslim “enough.” women are afraid to tell their husbands, will be punished in the afterlife (4:29). Islam New converts may be set apart due to cultural especially if they have no independent condemns suicide, and a hadith states that and language differences as well as racism. financial support or fear abandonment. this person will be sent to Hell, where he/ Even reverse discrimination can occur, which Engqvist and Nilsson find that most of 52 ISLAMIC HORIZONS MAY/JUNE 2021
