Gender, mental health stigma, and help-seeking in Arabic- and Swahili-speaking communities in Australia

Australia is an ethnically diverse nation with large numbers of migrants and refugees entering the country yearly. Despite research demonstrating that individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities experience an elevated risk of developing a mental illness, mental health services uptake is consistently low. To improve the mental health outcomes of these CaLD individuals in Australia, there is an urgent need to understand barriers to treatment, such as stigma. Research has noted that gender may play a role in mental health stigma and help-seeking. Using a qualitative approach as part of the Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Project, the aim of this study was to explore gender perspectives in mental health stigma and help-seeking among Arabic-speaking and Swahili-speaking individuals in Sydney. A total of five focus group discussions and 18 interviews were undertaken online using Zoom, digitally recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. Three major themes were identified. The first theme related to stigma and the fears regarding mental illness being discovered by others. The second theme related to the different approaches to confronting stigma. The last theme related to the various issues considered when identifying sources of help. Our findings suggest that a nuanced approach using the ‘what matters most’ framework can explain how men and women within each community may experience stigma and emphasise different aspects of help-seeking. These findings can help to guide clinical practitioners in delivering gender-specific and culturally sensitive and effective treatment sessions with these CaLD individuals, in addition to offering directions for stigma-reduction initiatives.