Faizel Patel – 07/10/2020

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)

If a person has mild symptoms of a mental disorder like depression, anxiety or Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), should it be mentioned at a marriage proposal or not?

As part of mental awareness month in October, Radio Islam posed this question to its listeners with many sharing valuable feedback and advice.

Reading out some of the responses, Radio Islam morning drive presenter Ml Sulaimaan Ravat indicated that majority of the responses showed that the mild symptoms of a mental disorder should be disclosed.

“The challenge for those who want to disclose it is that they probably fear that if we disclose it, it should not be that it becomes a game changer, a deal breaker that ok I was interested in marrying you, but now that you tell me you suffer from mild depression, I am sorry, I don’t think I can risk it. It is because of the kind of stigma and also the kind of lack of knowledge that exists around these issues.”

Ml Ravat also shared the sentiments and comments from Radio Islam listener Dr Haroon Issa, a clinical psychologist.

“According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM), if a mental health professional determines if there is no impairment in social and occupational functioning and doesn’t warrant further treatment, what would be the purpose of announcing this at a marriage proposal be. Islam does promulgate to us the middle path and I agree with some of the comments. A meeting of mind should happen between the Ulama and the psychological profession because we obviously trained in a Eurocentric model which may sometimes not always coincide with the Shari’ah.”

So what are your thoughts or comments? Should mild symptoms of a mental disorder be disclosed at a marriage proposal or not?

Listen to the discussion by Ml Sulaimaan Ravat