Mental health is of increasing concern across Muslim communities in America, with 54 percent of young Muslims surveyed dealing with anxiety or depression.

There come the common challenges that face many young Muslims. Growing up with a different value system and beliefs to the society around you is bound to lead to identity conflicts. Furthermore, the high rates of Islamophobia many Muslims face across America, the lack of representation and the struggle for identity all point towards the concern for mental health.

But beyond this, attitudes and awareness around mental health in many Muslim communities are lagging. Psychology and therapy often remain largely misunderstood and stigmatized, with it being seen as a secular alternative to spiritual healing, at conflict with faith. Mental health problems are often dismissed or minimized to a weakness of faith or will and are not given the recognition needed to address their often-deep-rooted, complicated nature.

As a result, many Muslims struggle to seek help or speak about these issues openly. And for those that internalize these stigmas, they now have themselves to blame for their hardships as it is their weakness in faith that has led them to struggle. And if they continue to seek spiritual guidance, but still find themselves struggling, how does this further impact their relationship with their faith and their mental health?

This mentality is far from Islamic. Historically, Islam and psychology have been largely intertwined with early Islamic scholars such as al-Ghazali laying the early foundations of psychology and cognitive behavior therapy today. Islamic texts guide Muslims to treat mental health issues seriously. While seeking the help of God through prayer, Muslims are encouraged to also work practically to overcome mental hardship and seek help. Indeed, the combination of spiritual belief with psychological treatment has shown to be highly effective in modern research.

This begs the question: where have such pervasive stigmas come from?

I recently gave a talk at a local mosque while staying in Richmond, Virgina, on this topic. I was nervous for days leading up to the talk. Who am I, a 20-year-old college student, to walk in on a new community I had just met, filled with scholars who spent decades studying the religion, to bring in my foreign ideas and tell them how they should change their ways?

Upon delivering my five-minute speech, I was surprised to find that everyone was in complete agreement. Everyone recognized the issue within the community and expressed a need for more awareness and progress.

While I was elated with the reception received, it brought me to question: Who is it that really needs to hear this message and where does the problem arise?

Perhaps I was lucky with the audience I received. But what’s clear is that the community I spoke to, like the readers of this article, weren’t the ones that needed to hear it. The people who attend workshops and read on mental health are not the people who need to hear it. The people who need to hear about mental health most are the ones that, intentionally or not, do everything they can to avoid these discussions.

The lack of recognition for mental health is an issue far from exclusive to Muslim communities and one that needs global action. For those who understand, it is in each of our duties to educate those around us, from our families to our communities. We must each do our part, bringing these discussions to the front stage of our communities approaching them, one step at a time, to dismantle these stigmas at large.

However, the issue of mental health in Muslim communities is far from a local one that the Muslim youth should shoulder the burden of responsibility for. It is one that warrants national attention and effort. Far more than it receives now.

After the Black Lives Matter riots took place, we saw a surge of attention for the need for Black therapist services available. Charities and organizations offered free counseling services for black people and the option to be paired with Black therapists. We have seen a rise in therapy services where one can be paired up by gender, queer therapists or race, with funding, advertisements and campaigns targeting these communities. Such efforts have been shown to be needed and effective, but it begs the question; what kind of crisis does the Muslim community need to face for mental health to become an issue of importance?

With the escalating conflicts of Palestine and Israel, these conversations are needed more than ever.

I am yet to have seen any wellbeing campaign targeting Muslim communities or actively providing Muslim trained therapists. Through targeted campaigns and efforts, co-operations and charities hold immense power to dismantle stigma and encourage Muslims to reach out for support. The current lack of funding and efforts towards Muslim communities only further reinforces the existing stigmas and taboo for individuals and the wider community.

What is imminent is that this is an issue that needs to be addressed multilaterally by all, from individuals to organizations. The issue of mental health in Muslim communities is far from a local one, and instead one that needs national attention and action.

YASEEN ISMAIL is visiting Yale as a researcher from the University of Bath. Contact him at yi65@yale.edu.