The Secret We Can’t Keep: Learning to Speak Up About Mental Health
By Maha Albujuq, BS, Research Assistant, Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health
The first time I encountered mental health issues was when I was 12 years old. Coming from a Middle Eastern background, I was taught from an early age that mental health was not a topic for discussion and that it was best to hide and not speak about it. That was when one of the girls in my friend group shared suicidal thoughts with me and the rest of the group and mentioned that she was self-harming. At first, I was really scared when she showed me all her scars and I was sad. I realized how easy it is to hide pain and sadness, and I wondered how many other people were hiding big emotions. My friends and I treated it as a big secret and promised not to tell anyone, but after some thought, I decided to confide in my mom who helped her get the support she needed. My mom spoke with the guidance counselor and her mom to help her get the support she needed. My friend was initially mad that I spoke to my mom about it, but I told her that I would rather she be alive and safe to choose not to be my friend any more than the latter. Once she received treatment, she came back and told me she understood why I spoke up and that she was not upset anymore. Being a teenager, I did not think much of it after that. In our culture, depression did not really exist and was seen as a weakness. Even though I was told to brush the incident off, that exposure to self-harm and suicide shaped how I saw others. I noticed how mental health conditions greatly impacted so many people in my community, and that no one was willing to speak up or seek treatment. I knew that I could not impact how my community saw mental health, but I could make a difference by being more kind to everyone and checking in on others when I can.
I grew up in Dearborn, a city consisting of a large Arab community. Who does not believe in seeking support for mental health. In 2025, the city of Dearborn conducted its first community health needs assessment. In the assessment, it highlights that 66% of survey respondents agreed that the stigma around mental health impacts help seeking behaviors in the Dearborn community. Shockingly, 76.9% agreed that the Dearborn community can better support mental health (Dearborn Public Health, 2024). This made me realize how unspoken mental health is in the community. I spoke out more about mental health and made sure people around me understood it was okay to speak up. In the assessment, it shows that 537 mental health calls were completed in Dearborn in 2024. In 2019, the number was only 322. It can be because mental health is starting to become more accepted in the community. Understanding how suicide prevention and mental health can be tailored to different people is important. Future research in mental health resources tailored to the Arab community can be considered to help make impactful changes.
While so many are embarrassed to ask for help outright, building trust with the community is essential. When you are trusted by the community, they will speak about their mental health and other issues they have faced. The community health assessment was written by an Arab who grew up in Dearborn. This helped him tell the city’s story through trust and connections to the area. When my friend trusted me enough to reveal she was not doing okay, I was her community. When she opened up to me, although she did say she wanted to keep it private, she mentioned it for a reason. She trusted me and knew she wanted help but at the time she did not realize that I could not give her the help she wanted with just my support. However, I gave her the help she needed by speaking to adults who can connect her with resources that allowed her to become better.
Mental health is invisible to the naked eye. The only way to really know if someone is okay is to ask them. Remember to be kind and check in on the people closest to you.
If you or someone close to you needs to talk, the 988 Lifeline offers free, confidential support 24/7 — whether you call, text, or chat, a trained counselor is there to listen and help. Reach out anytime at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. If you need mental health materials translated into Arabic, please contact the MI Mind team at MIMind@hfhs.org. There are also more behavioral health resources for Dearborn and Detroit at Access on their website. The phone number is 1-833-774-0002. My local mosque in Dearborn/Detroit area has a mental health program as well. You can learn more about it on their website.
Resources:
- Dearborn Public Health. (2024). Dearborn 2024 Community Health Assessment Survey Data. Dearborn Public Health