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Published on Anthropology News. 

Ongoing ethnographic fieldwork by Lisa Dikomitis demonstrates that mental health can be a “taboo” subject for many Sikhs. This is explicitly the case for older Sikhs—the generation that migrated to the UK, but also for their children. Despite the acculturation of UK-born Sikhs, such perceptions of mental health and help-seeking behaviors are reiterated through the generation. However, the concept of “taboo” must be understood in the Sikh community’s sociocultural-religious context. Our ethnographic research identified nuanced differences by gender, education, adherence to religious practice, generational status, and socioeconomic circumstances in relation to knowledge and attitudes around mental health. Video production by Aman Rattan.