Free counselling sessions at Okanagan Gurdwara aim to improve mental health for South Asian communities

For Amarjit Singh Lalli, an entrepreneur in B.C.'s Okanagan who has taught Sikhism for two decades, being Sikh means being mentally resilient and speaking his mind freely.

But many fellow Sikhs in the local community do not want to talk about their feelings or seek help for their mental health, he says, due to stigma surrounding mental health issues in South Asian culture.

Ahead of Vaisakhi celebrations in Kelowna, Lalli says he hopes for every Sikh and South Asian to live their life to the fullest as gurus of the religion have taught.

It's why he helped launch a new mental health program last February, which offers support and advice on finding culturally safe mental health supports.

Called Enhancing Health and Vibrant Communities, the program consists of free monthly sessions at the Okanagan Gurdwara, in Kelowna's Rutland neighbourhood. People can also attend the sessions on Zoom.

Sikh granthis, educators and social workers with deep knowledge of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib — the holy scriptures of Sikhism — lead discussions in both Punjabi and English on how to cope with addictions, emotional trauma, violence and issues in family relationships.

They can also help make referrals to counsellors, psychologists and medical professionals who can provide culturally-appropriate services.

Too much self-sacrifice, too little self-care 

Over the past few years, faith and health organizations across Canada have tried to boost mental health support for South Asians.

According to a recent report by Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, South Asians are more likely to experience emotional disorders but less likely to seek treatment compared to other ethnic groups.

In a 2019 report, B.C.'s Fraser Health authority said the number of drug toxicity deaths among South Asians in its jurisdiction rose 255 per cent between 2015 and 2018, much higher than the 138 per cent increase among other Fraser Health residents, while also noting South Asians are underrepresented among people seeking substance use treatment.

Lalli shares how his brother has been living with drug addiction and schizophrenia, and has been sent to hospital 22 times within two months because of addiction.

"The issue is he doesn't think he's sick," Lalli said. "[Medical professionals] will not keep him in the hospital, because he doesn't verbally say he needs help."

Social worker Gurmit Kaur Sandhu, who helps provide services for the gurdwara's mental health program, says as a second-generation person born to an immigrant Sikh family in Canada, she can understand the emotional trauma many South Asian Canadians experience.

"Having faced so many hardships, they learned that they had to do whatever it takes to make it work, but they didn't have time to sit down and have conversations and say, 'Hey, let's talk about so and so.'

"A lot of it was like, 'Well, let's put our needs and situations aside, let's do self-sacrifice, we'll do what it takes to provide for our families.' So there probably wasn't self-care happening."

'The happiness we seek ... is not on the outside'

According to Lalli, international students as well as seniors have participated in the drop-in sessions.

The program was established thanks a $40,000 donation from TD Bank. Members of the public and local businesses can make donations to help sustain the program, which will be assessed to figure out areas to focus on, to better serve the community.

Lalli says he hopes fellow members in the local Sikh community can spend more time reading Sikh scripture and learn to lead a joyful life — as the gurus did, who formed the Sikh Khalsa order on Vaisakhi in 1699.

"One thing that Sikhi teaches you is that the happiness that we seek, and the God that we seek, is not on the outside — you have to look within and bring it out."