Muslims in Dearborn Facing Growing Mental Health Problems: Report
As of 21 December 2022, officers in Dearborn responded to more than 1,000 mental health emergency calls throughout the year, an increase of 31 percent from the previous year.
In Dearborn, home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the US and also known as the capital of Arab America, mental health issues are exacerbated because of the stigma that often surrounds mental illness in Muslim communities.
"You have challenges in all cultures, including a stigma about mental health and a resistance to talking about it, but there are some things that are particularly salient to Muslim culture," Harnada Hamid Altalib, president of the Institute for Muslim Mental Health, told The Detriot News.
"You have a mistrust of the system if you're an immigrant and not in your home country, and there's a reluctance to see a doctor. Specific to Muslims, there's a concern about Islamophobia in the system."
Dearborn police, the city's Department of Public Health, and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (Access) have been working together to address mental health issues affecting the city.
Last month, Access began a programme using social workers inside the police department to respond to mental health-related emergency calls.
Across the US, communities are debating how to fix their mental health care system, and some community advocates say the police are ill-equipped to respond to mental health-related emergencies.
Source: Middleeasteye.net
