Birmingham man explores late father’s mental health to break stigma

After his father’s death, Jameel Sharif decides to sit with his mother and eventually deal with the two-year struggle with the Patriarch’s mental health.

Birmingham and journalists of Indian and East African descent discussed cultural taboos in identifying mental illness in Mother Husna Sharif and the South Asian community.

He filmed the conversation, which encouraged him to track down his father’s psychiatrist and learn more.

The 27-year-old said, “Mental health was a part of his life, but that was nothing we talked about until the end of his life.”

Ibrahim Sharif passed away in 2021, and Jameel shared a video on Instagram earlier this month to celebrate his death four years ago.

The culture of mental health shame and labelling is a barrier that many people in South Asian communities still experience.

BBC journalist Jameel has found himself in a position that has yet to address his father’s mental health with his mother, while conversations have been taking place about breaking cultural taboos in recent years.

“I made this in 2021 to explore cultural stigma and taboos, but I haven’t actually seen them broken.

“I thought I actually needed to do this myself.”

His mother, a Kenyan native and his father, a Tanzanian native, moved to Birmingham in the early 1970s.

On February 8, 2021, Ibrahim died at the age of 65 after signing for Covid-19 at the hospital due to other health issues.

The clip shows what 67-year-old Husna is telling her son.

“I have to be strong for myself.”

Jameel is shown to reflect South Asian culture and that he is being taught that he should not express his feelings.

Husna said:

“If you are experiencing depression or anxiety, people should label you as mental.

“Are they having an argument at home? Or what’s going on? Why is he depressed?

“This is what I call Asian culture.”

Ibrahim visited Dr. Vinod Singh, a psychiatrist, for 20 years to treat mental health issues.

Jameel felt inspired to track him down to learn more about his father’s mental state.

Dr. Singh told Jameer:

“That’s not common. It’s not that common in Asian communities. Men in particular are very reluctant to come.”

He said there is a “stigma of disappointing the family.” This means “they don’t trust the system they are trying to provide care.”

Jameel added: