Islamophobia bad for the mental health of Muslims

Mosque.Photo: pixabay.com

Hostility to Islam affects Muslims mental health negatively, according to a new report. The researcher behind  the report says Muslims are experiencing anxiety and stress, although they do not experience direct discrimination.

– Muslims who felt that they were feared by the  majority population  them, were tormented by anxiety and stress, postdoc Jonas R. Kunst at the psychological institute of the University of Oslo told the newspaper Vårt Land.

He and colleagues have done a survey among more than 1,000 Muslims in France, Britain and Germany.

– The negative relationship between Islamophobia and the health of the Muslims  was relatively clear in all countries, indicating that their experience does not seem to vary much across cultures, he says, adding that the findings probably also applies to Norway and other Western countries.

The Norwegian-Pakistani debater Bushra Ishaq says Muslims experience discrimination in employment, housing and health care.

– The consequences are anxiety and depression. You simply become unsure of yourself as a human being and on your own future.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today