Experts suggest engaging faith groups in mental health practices

Health experts have stressed the need for rethinking the current biomedical-focused approach of public health and suggested infusing spirituality.

They suggested taking 'emotion and spirituality' into account and engage faith-based groups in mental health and well-being.

The call came from a discussion on faith and mental health in Dhaka on Saturday.

The James P. Grant School of Public Health of the BRAC University together with Berkley Centre for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University and World Faiths Development Dialogue organised the discussion.

“We need to rethink public health and practices because the dimension of ‘self’ is lost in the current approach,” said Sabina Faiz Rashid, Dean of James P. Grant School of Public Health.

She said in the definition of health somehow the emotional and spirituality are lost in the discussions of mental, physical and social well-being.

“Spirituality is not just about religion. It may be about meditation. It’s about people focus on nature or art, but it’s about your ‘self’. What it means to be human is lost in our discussions of public health,” she said.

The Berkley Centre in a study in 2015 said faith-inspired organisations make “important contributions” to development in Bangladesh.

“Religions play a central role in the daily lives of many ordinary people and to the broader social dynamics including rising tensions,” it noted.

Child marriage prevention and behavioural change such as hand-washing were some of the roles religion leaders played as documented in many studies.

Katherine Marshall, Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue, said once it was thought that mental health is the luxury of the wealthy countries.

“Now everyone has come to a long way,” she said, “but one aspect is neglected that the relationships with religious belief and religious institutions”.

She said there are many countries particularly in the African region where religion institutions run hospitals.

Mental health issues are also common in Bangladesh with studies suggest one in four people suffer from a mental health disease. But psychologists say "social stigma is heavily attached to this disease."

Monira Rahman, Founder and Executive Director of Innovation for Wellbeing Foundation, said in many areas people do not want to go to doctors with mental health conditions.

“They believe that it is the evil force. Mental illness means mad – it's bad it can be cured,” she said, highlighting the “deep-rooted stigma associated with mental illness”.

“We don’t have enough mental practitioners. We have to depend on other people. We need to work with them and understand their mindset,” she said.

For example, she said, “to overcome stress, when one is going back to religion, they feel peace in mind. We also promote this as we promote what is peaceful and not harmful to others,” she said.

But she said there is no systematic research on faith-based practices in Bangladesh.

Dr Muhammad Mezbah-ul-Islam, Executive President of the Haqqani Mission Bangladesh (HAMIBA) said they are getting success by using religion in addressing mental health problems.

He said in the last 15 years, they received 8,000 patients of them 7,586 have been benefitted by some way.

“We call it Haqqani practice,” he said. “All religions come to us. I am Muslim; our Secretary General is from another religion”.

For example, he said, if a Muslim student comes with stress before exams, they arrange to counsel for them, then suggest to pray to God, and do the work properly, and behave well with parents.

Haqqani follows the works of two Great Sufi Saints -- one is Hazrat Abu Ali Akter Uddin and the other is Anwarul Huq.

 Haqqani’s Arabic roots, ‘Haqq’ means ‘oneness with the truth’ and ‘ni’ means an emphasis on said the truth.

Research Scientist and Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Public Health Foundation of India Rahul Shidhaye said religion institutions could be used as a vehicle to deliver the secular scientific objective designed for the community.

“It's evidence-based practice,” he said. “We have positive examples which can be harness. There has to be legislation to address the human rights violation.”

The James P Grants’ Dean Sabina Rashid said a lot of research is going on “integrated medicine and dimensions of the self that impact on health”.

“We need to change our curriculum, thinking, research and understanding and also practitioners regarding how they put the service delivery,” she said.