Psychiatric Cultural Formulation in the Islamophobic Context

Abstract

Growing numbers of Muslims in America are affected by Islamophobia, a fear and/or loathing of Islam, Muslims, or those who are perceived as Muslim or sympathetic to Muslims, that is fueled by misinformation and discrimination. Mental health professionals need to provide competent and compassionate care for Muslims who may subsequently develop mental health problems as a result of the psychological distress associated with Islamophobia. This chapter uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) Outline for Cultural Formulation as a tool to help explain the relevance of Islamophobia to the clinical assessment and care of Muslims presenting with mental health problems. Because the Muslim community is so culturally diverse, the focus here is on those aspects of Islamic culture that is common across Muslims from different ethnic backgrounds and nationalities. As such, the formulation may need to be repeated for other aspects of the person's culture to enable an appreciation of the impact of those factors separately. The cultural formulation includes five elements: cultural identity of the individual, cultural conceptualizations of distress, psychosocial stressors and cultural features of vulnerability and resilience, cultural features of the relationship between the individual and the clinician, and overall cultural assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)