Guest post from our brother Zabair Hussain. A very powerful read. If you would like to share your lived experience of mental health problems feel free to inbox me inShaaAllah. Mental health problems are psychologically and physically crippling and we often find ourselves in a very dark and bleak position in our lives where suicide is a rational option to escape from the pains and torture of day to day life. We have all lost a loved one, rendering us in feelings of grief and depression. We are psychologically deprived of comfort we received from that person and the separation fuels depression and physical ailments. Verily, suffering from schizophrenia, personality disorder, bi-polar or any other mental illness afflicts us with vicious voices, thoughts, hallucinations, delusions and emotions which we are unable to cope with nor live with. Medication offers some respite, therapy offers coping strategies to deal with the daily anguish but some of us are unable to develop insight in to our mental health to the extent the illness becomes our identity. Psychiatrists offer diagnoses, a label to categorise us in to a group in accordance with a diagnostic manual, or we are sectioned and detained in hospital where we are left counting the minutes, hours, and days. And discharged until we are considered safe and stable by them to be released back into the world. Isolation, lack of interest, inability to form relationships, grief and excruciating mental pain diminishes any quality of life, we become lost souls trapped in a clinical and medical world of being subjected to treatment which is considered successful due to the evidence base, and are left reeling with the awful side effects. I just want to say that we all have to endure the darkness to see the stars, equally we all endure some very negative and dark moments in our lives but there is always a star shining which will give us support and courage. We all must offer support, sympathy, empathy and encouragement to each other. We should help each other in our road to recovery and respect the problems we are facing. Yes, there is always no simple answer but who better can help you than a person who has experienced such mental torture themselves. Consultants can spend 6 years of text book training to help someone, and the medications do offer some relief but essentially we should help each other as we have greater insight and you have experienced and felt the pain too. I read a quote somewhere.. If you do what youve always done, you get what youve always got... Theres many ways to interpret it but from what I gather is that at times we must change our approach to life, and thinking patterns and replace them with a positive mindset. But to do this it requires a level of insight, courage and power and in our weak moments such elements of strength are not there. It is therefore essential we help each other to find solutions, not to dismiss someones plight of agony and work together to instill some harmony in our lives. Remember dont go crossing oceans for those who wont jump in puddles for you, dont let someone or something to become your weakness. Be aware of your positive and negative points and strengthen yourselves to change and build a life of tranquillity and harmony. Belonging to a muslim background I often come across the word jihad which in the media has nothing but negative connotations, but when I was studying the buddhist mindfullness approach the word jihad was synonymous with some of those approaches. Jihad means to strive, strive for a better life, health and strive to achieve a level of consciousness where you have insight and are able to govern your own emotions. I take into account that life experiences can impact our current state of mind, but equally it is us who gives that experience meaning and bring it alive. Remember you are strong, powerful and have that strength to relieve yourself from mental illnesses. Through peer support, having a shared understanding and empowering yourself can change your entire outlook on life. Grief, anxiety, depression, psychosis, they are all responses to traumatic events and in some cases a result of organic malfunctioning of the brain and therefore we have little control and insight in to our behaviour. Nonetheless, by sharing your experiences, having positive affirmations and mantras in your life can significantly aid recovery. The road to recovery is fraught with difficulties and lapses are inevitable but dont feel ashamed or reluctant to talk about your problems. Together we can help each other, together we can raise the level of awareness of our ailments, together we can offer solutions and remedies and together we can help each other to change our mind sets from a path of self destruction to a path of independence, fulfilment and happiness. Please dont give up trying.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:59:15 +0000