Education as a predictor of mental illness familiarity and attitudes in a Muslim community

We found that higher education is associated with greater mental illness familiarity but not with reduced stigmatizing attitudes in this community. The findings suggest that educational attainment alone is insufficient to counteract stigma potentially rooted in cultural and spiritual belief systems. Public health efforts should complement educational outreach with culturally sensitive interventions, developed in partnership with religious communities, to effectively address deeply held stigmatizing beliefs.