Suzy Ismail – Muslim Mental Health Panel

Santa Monica. And hello, my name is Susie Smolyan. My organization

is called cornerstone. And we are a communication counseling

facility that works from a spiritual foundation to help

individuals, couples, families, youth who are going through

difficulties to improve the relationships, whether it's a

interpersonal and intrapersonal, or a group type of a dynamic. So I

would have loved to join you at the multicultural Mental Health

Day Program at Stockton. Unfortunately, I was not able to

do so. But I'd love to kind of give some feedback on these

questions that were sent to me. So I'll just read the question and

give you my point of view as a communication counselor, which is

a bit different than the traditional psychiatrist or

psychologist or even marriage therapist. We focus on improving

people's emotional and relational well being through techniques that

may be outside the realm of what a typical mental health provider

would provide. We like to kind of say that Cornerstone is the

counseling center for the 99% of the population that insists they

don't need counseling. So the first question that I have here

says, How would you describe mental health and its importance

to individuals who are not familiar with mental health or

belong to a community in which there are strong negative biases

concerning mental health? So our organization Cornerstone is rooted

in a Muslim spiritual foundation. And we incorporate a lot of

Islamic concepts in our approach to counseling, I think being

communication counselors take some of the stigma away from the idea

of seeking help from a mental health provider, we work very

closely in conjunction with mental health providers. But we were

essentially for many people, the first stop where someone is going

through difficulties, they're experiencing problems, they feel

like they're not ready to seek mental health help, they may come

to us first. And we'll transition slowly if we identify the need for

mental health help to be able to work with the mental health

providers. So we do work very closely. And that helps eliminate

the stigma to a certain extent of seeking people seeking help when

they need it, without necessarily going the mental health route. The

next question says, What are the biggest challenges individuals

within the Muslim community face when seeking psychological help,

whether it be through counseling or medicinal treatment, there is a

lot of weariness when it comes to seeing a psychiatrist or being

placed on medication, even if it is clear that the medication is

needed. For many people in the Muslim community, there is a

sensor of feeling that if you just pray more, whatever problems

you're having will be fixed. And we always kind of tell our clients

that if you were suffering from cancer, or high cholesterol, or

possibly just suffer through a heart attack, would you tell that

person? Or would someone tell you just pray more, and you'll get

better? And of course, the answer is no, you would seek the help of

a doctor, you would get the medication you need to get better.

And we view you know, mental health help. And particularly, if

you need to go down the route of medicine in the same way that you

have a difficulty you have a problem, it does not mean that

you're weak, it does not mean that your faith is weak, it means that

this is a test that you've been given, and you need to address it

with those who can guide you in the best way possible. And even if

that means taking medication, then doing so knowing it is helping

your health.

The next question is as counselors, therapists, doctors,

etc. What is the best way to support Muslim clients knowing

these challenges? So again, understanding the stigma that is

often attached with the idea of seeking mental health therapy, it

was part of the reason why we took the approach of starting our

communication counseling centers, the focus of Cornerstone is again

to break that stigma down by working are acting almost as an

intermediary like a bridge that will get people to that state

where they can get the actual mental health that they need.

And the final question is What role does stigma play in mental

health? And what solution would you propose to uproot the stigma

within the Muslim population? So again, we've we've kind of touched

upon this topic and many of the other questions as well. But I do

believe that education is key that being able to teach people that

mental health illnesses are illnesses. And even if we can't

see depression, if we can't see anxiety, if we can't see panic

disorders, if we can't see OCD, because people can put on that

face that smile, you know, when they're outside in the world, but

inside they're crumbling, just because we don't see it doesn't

mean it's not there. And just because we don't see it doesn't

mean that we shouldn't address it. So being able to educate people

about the importance of seeking the help that's needed, and not

being abashed or shy to go down that route to understand that,

Allah you know, in Islam, we believe that Allah

Of course, is the best of all planners, but knowing that He has

given each person their test their their difficulty that they may

have to struggle against. But being able to overcome that

difficulty with the help that's provided is essentially what you

get when you seek the counseling or the mental health help that you

may need. So I hope this was helpful. Again, I hope this

important event is something that continues at Stockton and other

universities. I believe education is the most powerful tool that we

have to be able to break stigmas, break down barriers and get people

the help they need. Thank you, Santa Monica.