|
submit
articles |
| Depression & Muslims
Question: been on and off for the past few years..but
recently had a relapse of depression...all this time iv been taking
medication and changing medication...seeing a counsellor ,regularly see my
doctor and a psychiatrist a few times this
year... i wouldn't say im the most practicing of
muslims..i don't drink etc but i don't exactly wear hijab either..i'll
pray maybe once a day... but a recently practicing muslim friend of
mine said to me..that in islam depression doesn't really exist..its just a
sign of ungratefulness.that the negative thinking is just shaytan...
depression only happens to people with a weak iman. as a medical student i
first ignored the comment...i thought unless i hear it from a scholar who
is also a top psychiatrist then maybe i'll believe it..but then i
think..maybe its true...maybe its all in my head and its just mass
ungratefulness and maybe im just a bad muslim.but i do believe depression
is different from being unhappy... but only if you are the one who's depressed
you know ..how it truly is an illness.iv thought about doing psychiatry as
a speciality ..but i thought is it really compatible to islam..i mean how
many muslim psychiatrist are there. when i hear this idea of depression not
being islamic...i feel worse..like iv self inflicted and i can't ask god
for help....then when i stumbled on your website i really smiled...so the
question is :does depression exist in islam? thank you.
Response: I have heard people say that Muslims can't
be depressed and if they are it is a weakness in faith.
Since you are in the medical field I am sure you know better.
;-) Maybe we can say
that of those suffering from 'Situational Depression' but 'Clinical
Depression' is something very different. As far as Muslims not ever being depressed
or having pathology... there are 2 aspects that we have to keep in mind. Severe mental illness is recognized and is
referred to in the Islamic literature... ie: maintaining the obligatory
rules of religion are not mandatory on psychotics, inheritance is not
given to one who is not sane, etc. As far as depression and anxiety or other
milder forms of pathology are concerned... Muslims do have symptoms of
this also, since Muslims suffer from distorted thinking also.
Islamic literature discusses the phases of 'qabd (constriction)'
and 'bast (expansion)'... and the explanation is that only through a phase
of contraction that becomes so overwhelming does a person move to look for
something more stable and reliable which then leads one to faith and God.
Qabd phase meets all the requirements of a diagnosis for Depression
and Anxiety. Once the person
has developed a strong faith and is connected with the Source then you see
a decrease in the intensity of the qabd phase, since every qabd phase
leads to an increase in the level of certainty of one's faith.
This phase is necessary for personal growth and faith.
Certainty in faith as experienced and lived, not just as a concept. Islamic psychology in regards to the nafs
al ammarah and nafs al lawwâmah gives a wealth of information about
pathology. It is not until a
person gets to the level of nafs al mutma'innah and beyond that one can
claim that they don't experience pathology at the same level as an average
person. This is in regards to Situational Depression... not Clinical or
bio-chemical. Islamic psychology differs in that it talks
about the root of what causes pathology, ie: greed, arrogance, envy, etc.
Western psych tends to label the symptoms and ends up creating a
distance between the cause and pathology so that a person becomes
dissociated from it. Eg: if
my depression is because i am dissatisfied with my life and am envious of
other's wealth/relationship etc... taking meds is not going to make it go
away. I will have to deal
with the root. Depression is
the symptom enviousness is the problem. At a more basic level the test and trials
experienced by everyone according to the Quran takes many shapes and
forms... emotional reaction to these periods is natural and expected. So to believe that a muslim won't get depressed over such
situations is unrealistic... however the answer to this dilemma is given
in the Quran as well... only living in faith will rescue you from such
situations. So if Muslim Scholars claim that Muslims
don't suffer from depression, I believe that to be a misleading statement
and they need to qualify what they mean by Muslim and also define
depression. If they are
referring to Muslims with a strong connection they are correct, if they
are referring to an average Muslims then they are very very wrong and are
doing more harm and damage to those who are in need of help.
By denying the existence of pathology they are only encouraging
denial and repression, which creates more problems in the long run. To be fair to other religions, I believe
that anyone with a strong faith can make the same claim... that people
following whatever religion don't get depressed.
Because what they mean by it is being grounded in a belief system
that explains the tests and trials of life as means of learning and
growth, thus eliminating the sense of victimization, helplessness and lack
of meaning and purpose in life. Faith-based
treatment modalities take cognitive therapies to a deeper level. You may want to read the articles in
'Islamic Psych' in the 'library' and 'Sufism' in the 'spirituality'
sections at crescentlife.com for more detailed understanding of mental
health from the Islamic perspective Regards, |