The rise of Islamic State in the Middle East and events in Australia like the Lindt cafe siege have drawn attention to radical Islamic groups both here and overseas.
As as a result some Muslims and Arabs living in Australia have reported incidents of harassment online and in public places.
This has led to concerns that these experiences could be affecting the mental health of some sections of those communities.
Originally from the Middle East, Mohammed Alomari who had experienced harassment said the media and some political groups contributed to the problem.
"For an average person one who is trying to settle in and find the right opportunity in a new country, and he or she doesn't know anyone; when the media or other political parties try to portray or vilify the entire community, it actually doesn't help at all. And it actually puts a lot of pressure on the average person who is trying to make ends meet," he told SBS.
Research by the Scanlon Foundation in 2014 found less than five per cent of Australians surveyed had negative attitudes towards Christians while almost 25 per cent held negative views towards Muslims.
The role that discrimination plays in mental wellbeing has just begun to be understood by health professionals.
It was just one of the factors along with cost, time and stigma that prompted Macquarie University in NSW to run an online well-being course specifically for Arab-Australians of any faith.
Rony Kahrouz is a PHD candidate at Macquarie University and one of the people behind the online course team.
"Australians of an Arabic speaking background experience distress at least at the same rates to the general Australian community if not more," he said.
"The problem is that many of them won't seek help for a number of reasons."
He said some of those reasons were the cost of face-to-face treatment, time issues, and stigma.
"The shame associated with mental health in a particular community."
"Particularly people may feel that if they're exposed to seeing a psychologist they may be labelled as mad or crazy. So that stigma may be another reason that they may not seek help."
The clinic has treated around 2000 people for depression and anxiety through its wellbeing course.
Although he initially found it difficult - Mohammed Alomari eventually sought help for his stress levels through the university's online program.
"There are certain things that as a typical alpha Arab male you can't actually admit to, and one of them is being depressed or having emotional issues. A man is always perceived in our culture as the strong, steady, stable person even if it affects him you should not really show it. So that's definitely a factor in the community."
Is an online course the best option for everyone?
Dr Eman Sharobeem is a psychologist and the CEO of the Immigrant Women's Health Service.
She said it wasn't the best option for everyone.
"The program online might be actually be a good initiative. People who are afraid of what other people will be able to, in their own zone, deal with their anxiety and stress issues. In other issues it might actually not be very useful, because there is no other person that you see in that place. It is important sometimes in the Arabic-speaking community to have that interaction, that one-to-one."
For Mohammed Alomari, though, an online course had helped him recognise his stress triggers and how best to deal with them.
"I always try and remind myself when I'm feeling angry or agitated or stressed or upset to remind myself that this is not my real self and that I need to stop and take a step back and look at things objectively," he said.
"What's causing me to feel like that and is it really worth it."
A new course in the Arabic language is due to start in May while the English version is available free-of-charge.
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