The Clash Of Religion And Mental Health In The Arab World
For years, religion has been used as an excuse to disregard mental health. Whether you are Muslim, Christian or Jewish, as a follower of religion in the Arab world, your religion is embedded in your culture, traditions, and heritage. With how ingrained religion is in one's lifestyle, it is often used to justify wrong actions or habits. In extreme situations, religion is used to justify terrorist acts and honour killing, in daily life situations it is used to justify prejudice. This culture of religion has been hindering the progress of mental health awareness for years, not because it inhibits it but rather because people who experience issues with mental health are pushed into religion to solve their “unholy defects”.
As kids, we were warned against praying to pass a test without studying for it. They said that what we were doing was ‘tawakul’, a concept in Islam which means that you are expecting God to do all the work while you sit back and wait for results. With mental health, the same things we were warned against, we are advised to do. You are told to pray and rely completely on God without doing work, even being told not to go to therapy. Isn’t that choosing where your religion applies and where it doesn’t? Isn’t that hypocrisy?
Another concept in Islam that prevents finding real symptoms and reasons for mental health issues is the belief of ‘Evil Eye’. Evil Eye, as dear old Wikipedia calls it, is “a curse or legend believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when they are unaware.” When you see something you like you are supposed to say Masha’Allah but when you don’t that's where Evil Eye comes in. The concept is that you liked something so much and didn’t say Masha’Allah, cursing it. Evil Eye is used to justify the reasoning behind mental health issues, that people have looked at you and your achievements and cursed you without knowing. Thus the solution to your problems is to pray so the “curse” is lifted off. Now, I am not saying in any way that the concept of Evil Eye is false, but as a Muslim, I know that not every mishap one faces is a result of Evil Eye, and it is a case by case situation. We shouldn’t use Evil Eye as an excuse to not improve our mental health.
The stigma that revolves around mental health in our society stems from a lack of accurate knowledge and awareness. Unlike physical health, mental health is disregarded in education systems. It is neither a priority or on the agenda of most Arab nations. Because of that, people’s perspective about mental health is very negative. People believe that mental health is solely about mental disorders and mental disability when, in reality, mental health is a spectrum. It is often a matter of lack of education, especially in the case of older Arab people, who were often not taught about mental health by their schools or parents. Even if they have faced mental health issues, it’s unlikely that they would be able to identify it. They disregard mental health or speak negatively about it because they don’t fully understand it.
When I talked to students in Qatar who they go to to talk about mental health, many said counselors in schools or teachers, exemplifying the foreign ones rather than the Arab ones. One said that with foreign counselors or teachers they felt safer, and that religion will not be used against them nor would they be judged for their supposed lack of faith.
In the Arab World, particularly in the Gulf, there is a culture of perfection, of being untouchable in the face of struggle. You will often hear the phrases, “What will people think?”, “What about your family’s reputation?” or even, “ People will think we didn’t raise you right.” Really, the list goes on and on, and it only gets worse. Many are hesitant of the idea of visiting therapists or psychiatrists because they are afraid of the judgment of society. The idea that maybe you need help does not sit right with them. They believe that if prayer, religion, and faith could not help you, then you are severely messed up.
The effects of the stigma are not just the mental health issues that people will have to face alone throughout their lives, too afraid to say anything, but is also the transgenerational trauma that will follow. This is where trauma passes from adult to child unconsciously, as quoted in Psychology Today:
Maurice De Witt, a sidewalk Santa on Fifth Avenue noticed a marked change in behavior the holiday season following 9/11 when parents would not “let the hands of their children go. The kids sense that. It’s like water seeping down, and the kids can feel it... There is an anxiety, but the kids can’t make the connections.”
The stigma and the bubble that is around mental health results in unidentified symptoms which are disregarded. They result in toxic coping mechanisms, which result in unhealthy relationships with the self, that turn into unhealthy relationships with children, which in turn lead to toxic habits in the whole community. It is a cycle that never ends if we believe that it will be solved on its own. We ought to create the change we need.
People use religion as a solution for mental health, thinking it will increase people’s faith and that it will bring them closer to religion. However, all it does is move people away from religion. This is one of the reasons why we are now seeing hundreds of people renouncing their religions, not because of the religion itself, but because of the people who misinterpret it and use it for their own interests and beliefs.
In a survey conducted by The Arab Youth Survey, it was revealed that half of Arab youth believe that there is a stigma around seeking medical care for mental health issues and that religious values are holding the region back. The stigma that surrounds mental health will affect generations to come if change does not occur. Young people are trying to raise awareness by talking about the issue all over social media platforms and by trying to normalize the conversations people are afraid of having.
As a society, what we need to continue to do is actively raise awareness and initiate the conversation about mental health. Not only as individuals, but also by making it part of the curriculum in education systems, a mandatory workshop in workplaces, and ensuring it is as important as physical health and safety.
Mental health and religion do not have to clash. They don’t need to hinder each other’s development. We need to find a balance between science and religion, and rely on both at the same time without leaving behind one for the other.
Sara Al-Ammari is a 17-year-old writer based in Qatar. She is an aspiring journalist and an avid reader. Follow her on Instagram @sarra.aref for inconsistent aesthetic photos and sometimes books.