A faith perspective on mental health challenges
When you have mental health struggles, and you also belong to a faith community, life can seem complicated. Even when you ask for help, you might feel as though some healthcare professionals or services don’t fully understand faith-based perspectives, and to make it more difficult, you might also feel misunderstood by your faith community.
How faith communities innovate
Thankfully, there are many organisations which understand these challenges, seek to support ordinary people navigating life’s challenges, and advocate for faith-inclusive approaches to mental health.
At FaithAction, we have the rare privilege of working and partnering with many organisations which seek to pioneer fresh approaches to mental wellbeing within faith communities. This collaboration enabled us to develop and launch a toolkit looking specifically at faith and suicide prevention earlier this year.
To give some examples, the mental health charity MIND have proactively worked with Muslim communities to produce resources that seek to tackle this very issue. The Muslim Mind Collaborative expand this theme – considering the needs of Muslim communities in this area, as does Inspirited Minds and Muslim Youth Helpline.
Christians have a wealth of programmes to draw from, from Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries who run programmes to equip churches in this area, to Renew Wellbeing who help churches to work with mental health teams to improve mental and emotional wellbeing.
Taraki are dedicated to pioneering approaches to mental health within the Punjabi and Sikh communities. Jewish Care, and their mental health service Jami, offer a range of supports serving their community, from education and training to welcoming café spaces. City Hindus have the “Health is Wealth” programme, and Buddhists have The Buddhist Centre resource for mental health.
These initiatives, and many more like them, are doing great work in this space, but among mental health services there is still a need for a more culturally and spiritually inclusive approach.
Faith communities as Friendly Places
Faith communities play a critical role by challenging stigma around mental health, and supporting individuals through prayer and fellowship, while mental health services themselves must adapt to recognise and incorporate the spiritual dimensions of healing.
Finally, in 2014, FaithAction pioneered the Friendly Places initiative. By signing up to the Friendly Places Pledge, a faith group makes a commitment to be a place which welcomes and supports those struggling with their mental health.
Find out more and become a Friendly Place today!
