“My parents do not understand my diagnosis… they think it’s not real”: Understandings and perceptions of mental well-being amongst Sikhs in the UK

Abstract

Background: The United Kingdom is represented as a diverse country in regards to ethnicity and culture. However, research suggests many individuals belonging from ethnic minority communities encounter disadvantages in relation to contemporary issues such as when seeking professional help from healthcare settings. Research has found that traditional and cultural practices within the South Asian community can result in negative influences on attitudes towards mental well-being due to how it is perceived by others. However, there is limited research how individual South Asian subgroups make sense of mental well-being including; defining, understanding causations, attitudes and help seeking for mental health difficulties. The current research study will explore attitudes towards mental health amongst Sikhs living in the UK including investigating how the Sikh faith and teachings contributes to experiences of mental health difficulties. Method: A mixed methodology approach was selected to utilise both diverse techniques from qualitative and quantitative research designs. This allows the current research project to conduct both surveys and interviews. The research study consists of three data collection methods utilising an integrated mixed methods approach referred to as triangulation. The three data collection methods are: (a) The online survey (b) Initial face to face interviews (c) Over 65’s face to face interviews Analysis: The studies were analysed using several types of quantitative and qualitative techniques. For quantitative analysis, SPSS was used to conduct several tests such as; Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Chi-squared and Crosstabs. Transcripts were analysed for the qualitative studies employing Thematic Analysis, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Content Analysis. Results and Conclusion: The mixed methodology applied resulted in several themes emerging from the research findings: ‘faith & spirituality’, ‘concept of shame’ and ‘religious coping strategies’. These themes and factors influence the understanding, caution, interpretation and the types of help sought for negative mental well-being by the Sikh community living in the UK. Gender and generational differences were also identified in the data collection from participants. Sikh teachings, referred to as Sikhi are fundamental in the way that the Sikh participants understand mental well-being. The implications of the current study findings include clinical, educational and research factors.