What does Islam say about depression

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum,

Who benefits from the DSM title. The insurance company. The only reason a person is even given a DSM is for insurance purposes.

Who wrote the DSM..well it was the kufr. It has no Islamic basis, sister. Most of the descriptions are concoctions and the diagnostic flowchart is guess work as well.

The DMS is a tool to collect money.



There are Muslims who are diabetic who do not rely on insulin.

Why tie your camel to the kufr post?

 

[IHearIslam]

:salam2:

Depression is a medical diagnosis, not a sign of spiritual weakness. It is a chemical imbalance in the brain that can usually be rectified with medication as well as cognitive behavioral therapy. Muslims are just as physiologically susceptible to this illness as non-Muslims. I am not sure why this old-school thinking of depression being a weakness or wrongness.

The DSM-IV has this as a medical diagnosis so we should view it as such. Let's remove the stigma that society has put on depression, shall we? I have dealt with Muslim and non-Muslim patients who struggle with this illness. It's really sad to think they would be viewed as defective or spiritually weak. I've seen clinically depressed Muslims doing their salats, making dhikr and so on, so please don't make the judgement that they are doing something wrong. It is no different than a diabetic Muslim. You wouldn't tell him to stop his insulin and just pray, would you? We are Muslims, we trust in Allah AND tie our camel.

aahh, alhamdulillah FINALLY someone who understands me! alhamdulillah...

I have been trying to say that all along, trying to make people understand that depression is not equal to imaan weakness! I LOVE YOU sister, fisabillilah,

It's about time someone said it,

THANK YOU!

 

[Murad206]

Assalam alaikum, depression can happen in different way's. Guilt, sadness, hopelessness all of these are some way's of being depressed. I would recommend eating a spoonful of honey, and getting black seed oil and drinking 3 tablespoons a day. There's hadith's on both of these, one of which that said's black seed oil cures all disease's except death.

 

[ShyHijabi]

Assalaam walaikum,

Who benefits from the DSM title. The insurance company. The only reason a person is even given a DSM is for insurance purposes.

Who wrote the DSM..well it was the kufr. It has no Islamic basis, sister. Most of the descriptions are concoctions and the diagnostic flowchart is guess work as well.

The DMS is a tool to collect money.



There are Muslims who are diabetic who do not rely on insulin.

Why tie your camel to the kufr post?

:salam2:

Sigh. This argument makes absolutely no sense. The DSM is a reference book to aid in diagnosis of a patient. It is no different than using Grey's Anatomy to learn the parts of the human body. Should one not use medical books to become a physician because the authors are not Muslim? Non-Muslims are not idiots and it serves no purpose to avoid books written by them. The DSM is not concoctions or guess work, it is based of empirically gather evidence and results that are repeatable when researched.

Diabetics are under 2 categories, type 1 (who ALWAYS require insulin) and type 2 (who can actually reverse the problem with proper diet and exercise in most cases). If you stop giving a Type 1 insulin, they will die. Period. I have treated patients so sick with depression that they were catatonic. It is a very real physical illness. Telling them that this is just a matter of spiritual weakness is akin to telling someone with polio that they are not faithful enough.

I don't like doing this but I feel it is pertinent to the conversation. I have an undergrad degree in Psychology as well as an MD which I will be using most likely to start Psychiatry this Summer. (I haven't received my interview results for Residency so still unsure) I have seen Muslims and non-Muslims alike suffering from depression in the hospital. This is a measurable disease than can be revealed form chemical levels in the brain as well as the very shape of the brain.

 

[Aapa]

Asalaam walaikum,


Sister,

What I am saying is that we can not leave out in the diagnostic flowchart spiritual deficiency. As the medical field is not versed in Islam there is a large void.

Freud did not seek out the body. He wanted to be the soul doctor. The language of psychiatry is that of a person who has physical manifestations of deeply rooted soul issues.

And that is faith. The depressed person needs to remember that the cure for spiritual deficiency lies in the Quran. Why do we make dua.

There are positive correlations to wellness. When a soul is grounded in faith prognosis is better. The ratings of each axis of the primary and secondary diagnosis are rated positive.

We are as Muslims to seek help from Allah subhana wa taala. We do that in salat.

There is no magic pill to make you feel better. And on another level, this one I find amusing:

Keeping females on prescription medication for psychological conditions is a way of subjugating and controlling women. The vast majority of the women in the US are on some happy pill. When you are on a happy pill you do not think. You are too busy being happy on a pill.

 

[ShyHijabi]

:salam2:

Are you talking about antidepressents? Because they are not "happy pills." Mostly they act by preventing re-uptake of specific chemicals in the neuroreceptors and creating proper balance. The person isn't "high" or even happy, they are simply not chemically depressed. They are not addictive or habit forming and in most cases, not permanently necessary. So I am not sure why you feel it subjugates women. Denying a depressed woman antidepressants is akin to denying a woman with an infection, antibiotics.

And one thing we can agree on, Freud was an idiot and a pervert. I am soooo glad that his techniques are no longer the basis of psychological therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is much more widely used.

 

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum,

The problem with cognitive behavior therapy is just that. It does not go to the root of the problem.

As for the happy pills...please sister...they make not be habit forming but they will make you suicidal...and the pills do not go to the root of the problem.

I am not trying to change your mind. I am suggesting that there are alternatives to viewing depression. The medical model is just one way to look at things. It is not the only model.

No amount of medication is going to make me say Alhumdullila. That comes from the heart. Once I can utter those words the illusions of lacking are broken.

Most people are depressed because they are fearing something other than Allah subhana wa taala.

Joy is a gift and it is free. It is for our taking.

For those who are seeking counseling to help with depression and feel that the medical model in use; one that takes nothing from the body of knowledge of Islam; is the best route..go for it..but equally you can not dismiss those who seek help within the body of Islam. It is a choice as to what the best model is for a person.

There is no debate. It is a choice. And people have a right to understand that there is more than one model for therapy. We do not have to ingest pills made by big money pharmaceuticals who have no knowledge of the role of the soul in life.

 

[ShyHijabi]

:salam2:

Frankly I feel a lot of your assumptions about antidepressants and psychotherapy are based off your own opinion with no research to back it. If you chose to feel that way, fine. But I feel it's presumptive to think all depression falls under your definition when it is not backed with research and medical training. I have worked with hundreds of patients who've used antidepressants until they were no longer needed and none of them committed suicide or formed an addiction. You need to read peer-reviewed medical journals and stop listening to the media's fear mongering dealing with medication for psychiatric purposes.

As far as making dua, salat and reading the Qur'an, there is absolutely no reason why a person can't do that AND seek medical help. There is no reason to suggest the techniques ought to be exclusive to each other.

 

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum,

Allah subhan wa taala has told us the Quran is a cure for illness.

It is the individual choice to seek help from whatever resources. The best resource is the Quran. And a person has the choice to seek cures from within the body of Islam and specifically the Quran.

You can not belittle a person for holding onto that.

I do not have opinion..I just have experience. I do not begrudge you your place of trust...peer reviews.

But equally as a Muslim you cannot dismiss that there is a vast knowledge of cures that are found in the world of Islam. The best of cures is the Quran.

And the bottom line is simple; a pill can not cure depression. No physician will ever say that an antidepressant will cure depression. It at best stabilizes but the condition remains. That is the reason each incident of depression is called episode.

Seeking help outside the modern medical model is a choice.

But I am through.

 

[strive-may-i]

:salam2:
To take the best affordable halaal healing treatment, making dua to Almighty to cure the ailment, and showing patience, while suffering the ailment, I feel is the right approach.

The discussion is turning to personal choices, I feel. Here I found something relevant to this discussion.

Narrated By Um Oais: That she took to Allah's Apostle one of her sons whose palate and tonsils she had pressed to treat a throat trouble. The Prophet said, "Be afraid of Allah! Why do you pain your children by having their tonsils pressed like that? Use the Ud Al-Hindi (a certain Indian incense) for it cures seven diseases, one of which is pleurisy." [ Hadith-616 Vol 7, Book 71; Al-Bukhari]

Narrated By Ka'b bin 'Ujara: The Prophet passed by me while I was kindling a fire under a (cooking) pot. He said, "Do the lice of your head trouble you?" I said, "Yes." So he called a barber to shave my head and ordered me to make expiation for that." [Al-Bukhari]

Narrated By Ka'b bin Ujrah: The Prophet came to me during the period of Al-Hudaibiya, while I was lighting fire underneath a cooking pot and LICE were falling down my head. He said, "Do your lice hurt your?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Shave your head and fast for three days or feed six poor persons or slaughter a sheep as a sacrifice." [Al-Bukhari]
​

 

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum,

Brother,

Well stated.

 

[Dhikreislam]

salam alaikum,

iam a muslim from canada and am going through severe depression due to alot of reasons which is very complex. i was never a religious person and since this disease i have been looking into islam and the quran. listening to variouse surahs at night before sleep since it clams me down or else i cant sleep. my mom tells me its black majic. i have been through hell and back several times and it is driving me nuts. i beleive in black majic and Jinn. My question is that how do u figure if your going through clinical depression or just situational depression. - DOES islam provide a cure for depression?

i have the same issue friend...have been going in n out of episodes for past few years now (maybe more)... only Allah's dhikr saved my mind from total collapse.....its a very tough journey/issue and I think Islamic community needs to be made more aware of it.... personally I find some relief when i do muraqba... I wish you best of luck and lots of success in life... May Allah make our minds clear and strong

 

[Dhikreislam]

I see a lot of people in this thread making personal opinions about situation related to depression without sound knowledge or experience of it... please if you don't have one of those two, refrain from commenting.

May Allah give us guidance and strength

 

[Mazhara]

No untoward incidence happened in the Earth, nor to your selves except that which was recorded in writing before We might give explicit permission for its taking execution.
Indeed this has always been an easy matter for Allah the Exalted. [57:22]
This information is given for the purpose that you people might not feel sorrow-depressed upon that which has escaped you. And you people should not boisterously rejoice about that which is given to you people.
Take note that Allah the Exalted does not at all appreciate-approve such person who is conceited, self deluded arrogant boastful. [57:23]

 

[Precious Star]

:salam2:

Are you talking about antidepressents? Because they are not "happy pills." Mostly they act by preventing re-uptake of specific chemicals in the neuroreceptors and creating proper balance. The person isn't "high" or even happy, they are simply not chemically depressed. They are not addictive or habit forming and in most cases, not permanently necessary. So I am not sure why you feel it subjugates women. Denying a depressed woman antidepressants is akin to denying a woman with an infection, antibiotics.

And one thing we can agree on, Freud was an idiot and a pervert. I am soooo glad that his techniques are no longer the basis of psychological therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is much more widely used.

Sister,

I like your arguments. They make sense and they are well-needed in the muslim community, which continues to harbour unusual prejudices against mental illness.

The other line of thinking that often goes ignored, however, is the role diet and exercise can play in curing and controlling mild depression. I've been looking into this lately and I feel it is important to try a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables and fish, alongside an increase in supplements such as VItamin D, magnesium, Vitamin B complext and Omega-3s, plus cardiovascular exercise. So far I have not seen any changes but I am hopeful.

 

[Shak78]

I suffer from depression, not ashamed to admit it and I take a medication for it as well. I also exercise, have changed my diet and gone back to school. All of those have helped me get back to an even keel. The thought that you can just snap out of depression is harming and un-true. My mother passed away at age 52 and depression was a major factor in her alcoholism that lead to her heart attack and death. I can take medication, exercise, eat better, read the Qu'ran do dikr all together. No one thing is exclusive to the other and in combo help a great deal. Mental illness in America and in the Muslim community still has a very unhealthy stigma attached to it that does far more harm the good and that stigma needs to be gotten rid of with real dialogue and sadly that is not happened as long as the oh just snap out of it" crowd continue to be ignorant of what mental illness really is.

 

[Abu Juwairiya]

well i am a doctor. Not psychiatrist i am rdiologist. what i believe is that as a muslim if one is a good muslim that is strong believer of GOD and mutaki then there is no place for depression in a muslim's life. I mean a good mutaki muslim cannot get depressed because he or she has strong belief in ALLAH. we get depressed when we r away from our islam. so stick to basics of the religeon and leave rest to ALLAH. enjoy this short life according to islam teaching and be prepared for the final day of judgement. MAY ALLAH HELP US ALL. AIMEN

If your heart is attached to Allah, then He will help you. You can be in difficulty, in great hardship, in poverty but in the end He will help.

Perhaps depression is a means by Allah to say He wants you to be closer and it will in the long run make you a better Muslim; if you already are then perhaps it is to upgrade your status to being a much better one and higher than average.

One reason for this is that spiritual contentment fills the void of loneliness, combats extreme fear, repels thoughts and feelings of emotional disturbance, keeps Shaytan away and makes a person closer to Allah.

It is thus incumbent upon Allah to help such a person. Hardships of a physical sense are from Allah as well, but exist as trial and for reward and compensation if endurance towards it are successful.

 

[Abu Juwairiya]

As mentioned by others, as depression is a medical condition, then each day of suffering means a daily dosage of compensation (until it is over) by Allah that will be seen by the sufferer on the Day of Judgement for accepting it with grace while at the same time trying to get better and seeking a cure.

This may not mean a lot now and may also not be what people want to hear but should serve as a reminder that Allah knows what each person is going through, the exact nature of suffering, the pain, the anxiety, the longing to be normal and happy and the things that you miss out on while sick. He knows it and wants us to get better, but each thing has a time period and it is already written how long each person will suffer and what effects it will have on them and that it will make them stronger in body, in spirit, in willpower and contentment inshallah.

 

[Precious Star]

Depression is a reflection of low serotonin levels. Serotonin levels will not drop because you have weakened your connection to Allah. It is very important that we make a distinction between feeling sad and lonely, and suffering from clinical depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc. These are organic diseases. Many people who have a strong spiritual relationship with God and who follow Islam nonetheless suffer from depression and anxiety. Many good muslims become depressed. Sometimes the condition runs in families, so there is a genetic component. While I am not an active proponent of anti-depressants, I nonetheless believe that it can help where lifestyle, thinking and dietary changes do not alleviate the condition. Many, many people have benefitted from anti-depressants.

 

[Abu Juwairiya]

Depression is a reflection of low serotonin levels. Serotonin levels will not drop because you have weakened your connection to Allah. It is very important that we make a distinction between feeling sad and lonely, and suffering from clinical depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc. These are organic diseases. Many people who have a strong spiritual relationship with God and who follow Islam nonetheless suffer from depression and anxiety. Many good muslims become depressed. Sometimes the condition runs in families, so there is a genetic component. While I am not an active proponent of anti-depressants, I nonetheless believe that it can help where lifestyle, thinking and dietary changes do not alleviate the condition. Many, many people have benefitted from anti-depressants.

Jazakallah Khayrun for the insights into what you know of depression yourself and what we can do about it. I made points into how Islam can help people with certain things and ailments like loneliness etc. As you said even those with strong relationships with Allah can and do still suffer. May Allah help us all.