LANSING, Mich. — Sixteen years ago, Dr. Farha Abbasi made a promise to herself to talk publicly about a very taboo subject. Now, people across the globe are thanking her for her conversation.
Dr. Abbasi, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Michigan State University, is on a mission to get people of all faiths, especially Muslims, to talk openly about mental health.
She says it all started 16 years ago with a young man that changed her life.
“He was very psychotic, threatening to kill his family. And I was trying to intervene and get him hospitalized," Abbasi said. "He went missing from his home, and we are tracking him. We had the Michigan State Police looking for him, and we discovered that even in his psychosis, he's at the Islamic Center praying.”
Dr. Abbasi says she wanted to get the man admitted to the hospital to receive help.
"The family said no, we don't want it happening at the Islamic Center! And that day, I promised myself that this work would start at the Islamic Center. The stigma has to be rooted out from our beliefs and our culture,” she said.
That interaction inspired Dr. Abbasi to start the Muslim Mental Health Conference, which brings together mental health providers, faith leaders and the community to talk openly about mental health issues.
Today, over 500 people from 30 countries attend the annual event that recently took place at MSU and was broadcast across the globe.
Muhsin Kermalli traveled from Toronto to be part of the conference.
“We wanted to start a safe space for anyone going through life's difficulties, especially targeting the Muslim youth community," Kermalli said. "There is stress, anxiety, bullying, depression, those kinds of things and identity issues. A lot of people are stigmatized, especially within the community. So where do they go? They're not going to talk to their parents. They're not going to talk to their uncles. They are tabooed and are shunned from their community, maybe from their Imams.”
Dr. Abbasi says the most significant barrier to getting help is the stigma associated with mental health.
"In the minority settings, we see that the needs are higher. But they don't access care because of the shame. It stays silent. It's shrouded and put under the ground but doesn't go away. It comes out bigger and more prominent. So, I think that told me this has to be broken. The silence has to be shattered," she said.
Conference attendee Misbah Alam says she is grateful that the faith leaders and mental health professionals are talking.
“You're not disregarding your faith, and you're not disregarding science, but you're bringing it together and creating this like beautiful collaboration where we are going to heal in faith and science,” Alam said.
Rawle Andrews Jr. is the executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation and says that Dr. Abbasi's work makes her a good neighbor.
“Dr. Abbasi is a good neighbor because she brings intellect, empathy and humanity to the field of medicine and the house of psychiatry. She is not just a psychiatrist, she's a human being that specializes in psychiatry," Andrews Jr. said. "She's a connector. She's a builder. She's a champion, and we love working with her.”
Dr. Abbasi was recently named one of the top 15 women in the nation at the Women on the Frontlines: Celebrating Women Faith Leaders.
This week, we call her our Good Neighbor. Congratulations, Dr. Abbasi, and thank you for helping save lives across the globe.
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