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In October 2019, Malaysia’s Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad launched “Let’s TALK Minda Sihat!” — an awareness campaign aimed to tackle mental health issues, especially among the youth. The 2017 National Health and Morbidity Survey reported that 29% of Malaysians have depression and anxiety disorders, a steep increase compared to the 12% in 2011. The survey also reported that suicidal thoughts among teenagers aged 13 to 17 have increased from 7.9% in 2012 to 10% in 2017.

These alarming statistics call for better mental health literacy in the country, and it is apparent that our youths are one of the most affected age groups. In order to help our youths achieve their full potential, it is crucial that this issue be taken more seriously by everyone. Helping our youths to reach their potential involves the identification, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders that interfere with their development into a successful adult. Simultaneously, we will also need to instill positive values and behaviors that enable formerly troubled young people to flourish, contribute to society, and be happy and healthy.

Religiosity: Its Significance & Interplays

Religion is both a personal enterprise and a cultural institution through which people are instilled with a sense of purpose within the social and ontological universes. Religion provides a language that captures an individual’s apprehension of the meaningfulness and, at times, the anomie that existence presents. It informs the individual of moral values and prescribed behaviors which will sustain fruitful participation within family and society.

In that sense, as a solid institutional force, it plays a significant factor in the psychological functioning of an individual and their mental health. I propose that religion, considering its diverse and multidimensional forms of expressions and ideological narratives, has the potential to give either positive or negative impacts on mental health. It is subject to endless variations in structure and orientation, all of which serve to establish any particular religion as a psychological asset or liability, or pathological and inhibiting.

In the context of our youth, religion is an integral experience in the lives of the majority of them. Recent studies and research acknowledge the relevance of religion as a factor that must be considered by mental health professionals in the evaluation of their clients’ condition. Thus, religiosity could provide a great source of support and help to our youths and the surrounding society in the prevention of mental illness as well in treatment.

How religion could help:

1) Promotes a positive worldview

Religious beliefs provide a worldview that is positive, optimistic, and caring. Such worldview is different from the secular explanation of life, as it sees events occurring entirely as a result of random chance. There is no greater meaning to events other than the actual event itself. Regardless of which view is truer in the ultimate sense, the mental health consequences of the former worldview may be more profound, especially for those with severe mental illness.

2) Provides purpose and meaning

Meaning is important because it provides a sense of purpose and direction for life that gives hope for better times ahead and gives significance to present difficulties. People need renewed purpose and meaning in order to continue to fight the illness and make the efforts necessary to recover and rehabilitate. Religious beliefs often lie at the core of what gives life purpose and meaning in these circumstances.

3) Discourages maladaptive coping

Religiosity discourages negative responses to stress such as alcohol or drug use, risky sexual behaviors, or other behaviors that worsen mental health in the long run. Rather than turning to these unhealthy sources of comfort and solace, religiosity encourages people to turn to God and their community instead. It helps them to make better decisions (e.g., don’t steal, forgive, etc.) that are less likely to result in further stress or perpetuate mental illnesses.

Few Misconceptions & Challenges

Most communities, including the Muslim majority in our nation, have a strong stigma that affects attitudes and behaviors in identifying, acknowledging, and/or seeking help for mental health problems. It is the most stressed and repeated point mentioned by the authorities. The Health Minister himself challenges the narrative that mental illness is an expression of weak faith, lack of familial or community support, or even shame to the individual or their family.

Another issue is the broad association of mental illness with being “non-religious” or “not religious enough” which oversimplifies the multifactorial medical conditions and is devoid of nuance.

Musings Towards a Better Future

In the midst of this, promoting the utilization of religious resources and social support systems in delivering effective mental health care, education, and treatment to the youth and the public in general should come to our attention. Increasing the availability and quality of college/school-based services for the assessment, treatment, and prevention of the youth mental health issues is also a central component of any plan for improving the lives of our youths.

On a religiosity spectrum, taking the Muslim community as an example, what is obvious in our nation is the nonexistent activity of institutions that graduate religious professionals (“Muslim chaplains”) who combine the spiritual and religious aspects with proper training in mental health and counseling. Plus, various institutions are less likely to recruit them unless lobbied. This is due, in part, to the lack of awareness of the needs of patients and clients, and the whole idea of faith-based practice.

It is also worth noting that the majority of the training of Muslim clergies and religious teachers have been focused more on theoretical as well as practical aspects of the religion, and there is little attention given to psychological, emotional, and sociological problems of the youth and the general masses that they are required and intended to face and serve.

In the end, this write-up is intended to spark discussions and to facilitate the circulation of knowledge and musings. I encourage scholars and academicians in related fields and faith communities to share their insights and contributions in order to promote better mental health and to address faith-based needs.