section_path: Epidemiology/Demographics/Cultural and religious considerations
section_name: Cultural and religious considerations
paragraph_text: Cultural and religious considerations
  
  Mental health is a socially constructed concept; different societies, groups, cultures (both ethnic and national/regional), institutions, and professions have very different ways of conceptualizing its nature and causes, determining what is mentally healthy, and deciding what interventions, if any, are appropriate. Thus, different professionals will have different cultural, class, political and religious backgrounds, which will impact the methodology applied during treatment. In the context of deaf mental health care, it is necessary for professionals to have cultural competency of deaf and hard of hearing people and to understand how to properly rely on trained, qualified, and certified interpreters when working with culturally Deaf clients.
  
  Research has shown that there is stigma attached to mental illness. Due to such stigma, individuals may resist labeling and may be driven to respond to mental health diagnoses with denialism. Family caregivers of individuals with mental disorders may also suffer discrimination or face stigma.
  
  Addressing and eliminating the social stigma and perceived stigma attached to mental illness has been recognized as crucial to education and awareness surrounding mental health issues. In the United Kingdom, the Royal College of Psychiatrists organized the campaign Changing Minds (1998–2003) to help reduce stigma, while in the United States, efforts by entities such as the Born This Way Foundation and The Manic Monologues specifically focus on removing the stigma surrounding mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a U.S. institution founded in 1979 to represent and advocate for those struggling with mental health issues. NAMI helps to educate about mental illnesses and health issues, while also working to eliminate stigma attached to these disorders.
  
  Many mental health professionals are beginning to, or already understand, the importance of competency in religious diversity and spirituality, or the lack thereof. They are also partaking in cultural training to better understand which interventions work best for these different groups of people. The American Psychological Association explicitly states that religion must be respected. Education in spiritual and religious matters is also required by the American Psychiatric Association, however, far less attention is paid to the damage that more rigid, fundamentalist faiths commonly practiced in the United States can cause. This theme has been widely politicized in 2018 such as with the creation of the Religious Liberty Task Force in July of that year. Also, many providers and practitioners in the United States are only beginning to realize that the institution of mental healthcare lacks knowledge and competence of many non-Western cultures, leaving providers in the United States ill-equipped to treat patients from different cultures.