Communities Join Together To Promote
Behavioral Health
Arab American and
American Muslim Youth Speak Out
By Leslie Quander Wooldridge
|
A.
Kathryn Power (left), Director
of SAMHSA's Center for Mental
Health Services, speaks with
workshop panelist Laila Mokhiber
on the first day of the
summit. |
Echoing SAMHSA’s vision of a
life in the community for everyone,
a recent Agency conference continued
an ongoing community conversation about
the mental health and substance abuse
challenges faced by Arab American and
American Muslim youth and their families.
(See SAMHSA
News online,
March/April 2007, to
learn about last year’s
listening session.)
The 2-day conference, “The American
Experience: A National Summit To Promote
the Well-Being of Arab and Muslim Youth,” convened
in Dearborn, MI—the U.S. city
with the highest concentration of Arab
American residents.
“We have been building over
time a deeper and greater awareness
and understanding across the Arab American
and American Muslim communities and
a mutual understanding of the behavioral
health needs that are unique to these
communities,” said
A. Kathryn Power, M.Ed., Director of
SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health
Services (CMHS), in her plenary address. “SAMHSA
sees this summit as an opportunity
to bring action to some of those understandings.”
"We
really have more in common
than we might think."
|
—Laila
Mokhiber, workshop panelist |
Participants included mental health
treatment providers, substance abuse
prevention and treatment counselors,
families, clergy, other members
of the communities, and youth representatives.
They gathered with SAMHSA staff to
share concerns, hear personal stories,
and consider how to provide support
and promote well-being for members
of the Arab American and American
Muslim communities, with a special
focus on young people.
Workshops encouraged participants
to speak freely about their experiences
involving mental health, including
stress management and coping with negative
stereotypes. For some families made
of up first-generation immigrant parents
and American-born children, discussions
focused on bridging the gap between
an “old country” mindset
at home and a “pop culture” mindset
at school.
Other topics included substance abuse,
the consequences of trauma, ethnic
and religious profiling, communications
between family generations, funding
opportunities for providers, and the
importance of youth involvement and
leadership.
“The participants
represent people from many races and
cultures as well as multigenerational
Americans, recent immigrants, and refugees,” said
CAPT John Tuskan, R.N., M.S.N., Director
of SAMHSA’s Refugee Mental Health
Program and a planner for the conference. “All
Arabs aren’t Muslims, and all
Muslims aren’t Arabs, but members
of these populations do have some aspects
of culture in common.” Several
speakers provided historical perspectives
on these diverse communities, noting
that Arabs and Muslims cannot be treated
as monolithic groups.
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Listening and Learning
One dynamic, interactive youth panel
addressed ways to cope with stress,
deal with negative stereotypes, and
inspire youth leaders. Participants
included Asma Mirza, president of the
Muslim Students Association (MSA) National;
Laila Mokhiber, a student at George
Mason University; Abdifatah Barre,
president of his high school MSA chapter
in Virginia; and moderator Altaf Husain,
Ph.D., Executive Assistant for Academic
Affairs at Howard University.
Coping with stress
and negative stereotypes. Even
now, 7 years after 9/11, panelists
pointed out that some individuals still
view Arab Americans and American Muslims
negatively, calling them
all terrorists. “Kids
joke around now at schools. They say, ‘Oh,
you’re an Arab—so you’re
a terrorist—ha, ha, ha,’ ” Ms.
Mokhiber said. “But it’s
not funny.”
Ms. Mirza, an American who is of Pakistani
descent, remembered when people began
looking at her differently after 9/11—looking
at her like something was wrong. “I’ve
always seen myself as an American,” she
said. “It’s stressful
because this is the only home I’ve
ever known, and the only home I want
to know.”
In general, some youth and adult participants
said that they continue to be profiled
at airports because of their appearances
or last names. Ms. Mirza has her own
way of coping with security checks
that seem to focus on Arab Americans
and American Muslims. “You pretend
it’s
not happening,” she said, noting
that she still avoids praying at airports
to avoid the stress of potential discrimination. “Someone
may call security,” she explained
matter-of-factly. “It’s
happened before.”
Ms. Mirza’s other coping mechanisms
included not watching the news on television
for a year after 9/11 to avoid negative
coverage of people of Arab and Muslim
heritage. Although she insulated herself
from news coverage during that time,
she noted that people in America need
to look for common ground. “If
you step back far enough, you’ll
find something that everyone at the
table agrees upon,” she said.
Encouraging support. Considering the
mental health and substance abuse issues
on college campuses, as well as the
stress factor, panelists emphasized
the need to have support systems in
place to assist young people who need
help.
“With the MSAs, you try to reach
out to everyone on campus. . . . But
it’s hard,” Ms. Mirza said,
noting that youth don’t usually
focus on how to cope with stress and
discrimination. “I don’t
think it’s something that we
talk about very often.”
Still, panelists said community involvement
comes with benefits, and Ms. Mirza
added that parents and community providers
are showing increasing support for
youth. “Home is a safe place,” she
said. “Having people in your
life who positively reinforce you,
to me, is key.”
Inspiring leadership. Even though
students may experience high levels
of stress, participants noted that
youth leadership is important for community
outreach. Although young people may
seem preoccupied, panelists said service
providers should make special efforts
to recruit youth for community activities.
It just takes some creativity.
“Let’s meet the youth
where they are,” Dr. Husain said.
Although volunteering may be the last
thing on young people’s minds,
talking with youth while they
engage in everyday activities can result
in real progress.
Panelists also noted that social interaction
is important. “You have to make
it cool,” Ms. Mokhiber said of
outreach, explaining that her local
community groups sponsor networking
parties to encourage participation. “If
you can have 5 strong leaders, it’s
better than having 100 leaders who
don’t really care.”
Ms. Mokhiber is hoping that social
interactions—from friendly get-togethers
to formal discussion panels and presentations—will
help young people of various backgrounds
understand each other better. “We’re
all people,” she said. “We
really have more in common than we
might think.”
Details about other panels on domestic
violence, substance
abuse treatment,
and refugee
experiences are included
in this issue of SAMHSA
News. For more
information on topics discussed at
the summit, visit SAMHSA’s Web
site at www.samhsa.gov.
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See
Also—Promoting the Well-Being of Arab and
Muslim Youth
Preventing
and Treating Substance Abuse »
Refugee
Experience »
Domestic
Violence »
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