Islamic Center Of Northridge Responds To Suicide Study

NORTHRIDGE, CA — The Islamic Center of Northridge hosted a mental health game night and workshop to help the community learn about and cope with a recent study that found U.S. Muslims are twice as likely to attempt suicide as members of other faiths.

Many news outlets drew attention to the affects of 9/11 on American Muslims as the nation commemorated the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks last week. NPR reported that there was a 500 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the U.S. between 2000 and 2009.

The Taliban's recent takeover in Afghanistan also opened up old wounds and caused great anxiety for Afghan Americans, many of whom have family in Afghanistan, said Ibrahim Qureshi, an imam at the Islamic Center of Northridge. The timing makes it particularly important to address Muslim mental health in the public sphere, Qureshi said.

"The return of the Taliban, it's kind of reopening old wounds — so to speak — in our communities. The anniversary of 9/11 being so close to the Taliban coming back into power, people still remember a lot of it," Qureshi said. He added: "It's been a while, and sometimes you lose focus on why things happen. This is an opportunity for us to go back to the roots and help people connect the dots and structure their own thought process."

The study appeared in the American Medial Association's JAMA Network journal in September. Qureshi, who organized the educational event at the Islamic Center of Northridge, said he was not surprised by the study. He has been organizing mental health workshops for years to help educate his community, and his work has exposed him to the plight of many Muslims in the area. Qureshi is particularly focused on supporting Muslim youth.

"I kind of [saw] this coming," Qureshi said. "Anybody who works within the youth arena, they understand."

Qureshi co-hosted the most recent mental health workshop and game night in response to the JAMA study with the Northridge branch of the Khalil Center, a psychological and spiritual wellness center based on Islamic principles. Multiple researchers involved in the JAMA study also work with the Khalil Center.

In the past couple of years, Qureshi has encountered far more mental illness within his community. He sees children and young adults struggling with balancing priorities such as school and family, facing community stigma that says Muslims shouldn't struggle with mental illness. The stigma is also mentioned by the researchers as a key factor in the higher rate of suicide attempts within American Muslim communities.

"It was always there; people just never diagnosed it. It's always been a problem. It's always been an issue. But now people are more comfortable coming forward and talking about it, as opposed to in the past where people felt like if they consider themselves a good Muslim, they shouldn't talk about it," Qureshi said. "But that stigma [is being] erased and is moving away slowly. People are just coming forward more."

Educational efforts within his community, Qureshi said, and a larger cultural movement in America to create open conversation about mental illness are helping erode the stigma.

Discrimination is also a key factor in the study's findings, according to researchers.

In a 2020 survey by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 60 percent of Muslims reported experiencing religious discrimination, higher than that of any other faith group. The numbers has consistently hovered around 60 percent for years. More than any other faith group, Muslims face institutional discrimination in areas such as health care, law enforcement and other everyday interactions.

Multiple studies have found that perceived religious discrimination is associated with increased mental illness.

Qureshi certainly saw the link between discrimination and mental illness. But it's a more regional factor, he said: He doesn't see much anti-Muslim discrimination in Northridge but knows that it's a larger factor in other areas of the state and country.

The pandemic has helped bring skeptical community members around because of sheer exposure, he said. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that the pandemic has increased anxiety and depression in both adults and young adults. As people personally encounter mental illness more in their daily lives, they are more willing to engage in conversation about it.

The growing awareness and empathy will help the community move forward, especially when paired with education. The second important step is making sure mental health organizations and advocacy groups have a large presence in Muslim communities.

"I think education is still a big component. There's more education [today], but to be honest, it's not enough. And not just education, but that information reaching the right circles," Qureshi said.