Evaluation and Development of a Self-help Resource for Muslim Patients with Depression

A number of policy statements and guidelines promote the use of culturally appropriate treatment for service users from minority ethnic and faith groups . Reviews of clinical trials and interventions provide little evidence about minority religious groups, however and detailed descriptions of interventions for Muslim patients are rarely available . More evidence is therefore needed about culturesensitive models of therapy and specific resources that practitioners might utilize.

There is evidence that some people within Muslim communities experience higher levels of depression which are more chronic in nature than in the general population. Muslim patients are also more likely to use religious coping techniques thanindividuals from most other religious groups in the UK  this is therefore a potentially important focus for culturally appropriate mental health treatments. 

There is a significant body of literature which shows that religion may influence wellbeing through pathways that are behavioural, psychological, social and physiological. This literature identifies a distinction between ‘negative religious coping’ i.e., feeling abandoned or punished by God or unsupported by one’s religious community and ‘positive religious coping’. The former can increase depression and anxiety and pain severity for people with physical illnesses . ‘Positive religious coping’, on the other hand, is associated with reduced levels of depression and the use of an internalized spiritual belief system to provide strategies that promote hope and resilience . Religious beliefs and practices that encourage a proactive approach to dealing with problems, rather than relying on divine intervention, are also more likely to help people overcome depression. Read more................