Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Surviving through depression

[Article written for Muslim and non Muslim audience. Sorry if it appears strangely worded]

Bismillah (In the name of Allah, the Great Spirit)

Depression.  A very bad and terrible thing.
But if you persevere and don't give in to it then you can come out.
And when you come out you may find yourself a new person. Ten times stronger than how you were before.

I am speaking from personal experience. I have lived it. And came out the other side with a different personality and stronger. So one thing should definitely not do is lose hope. Because you are seeing the end product here writing and speaking to you. And if it can happen to me then that means it can happen to you. I am not special.

But it is definitely a testing time when living it. But the beautiful thing is that when, God willing, your time comes and you come out too you will know what a difficult life means and then see all the normal problems that normal people have as really really trivial things. Because you have seen and lived through real torture. This is where your new strength and new personality and confidence will shine God willing.

And you will see that hopefully it was worth it. And you may actually one day be thankful you went through this arduous experience. Although while your currently living it you may find this very hard to believe. But i am here saying it to you.

Just need to be patient, follow doctor's advice, and persevere through the ugly journey. And the more ugly it gets the closer you are to the outside door of this prison. But the progress maybe slow. It was for me.
But slow progress is much better than no progress. Believe me.

If you want a chat feel free to contact me on Facebook at Ali.Twaij.3.

Good luck with your journey to a new personality. Don't even think of giving up. Focus on the new person. The new you.

Below I have some songs that may epitomize the depressive state as well as the recovered state that lies in waiting for you God willing.

I think both songs are useful:

Sami Yusuf - I know I am waiting: http://youtu.be/i3lqPUbYyTM

And when you have recovered and changed to a new you:
Your love is all I need - Sami Yusuf
http://youtu.be/GMmv5WW4mQo

And this one here is also good during the depressive state:
I am calling you my Lord Beautiful song:
http://youtu.be/49ULvUNEwmk

My own analysis at the moment is that the depression phase could be viewed as a period in which to reconnect with the loving creator spirit (God/ Allah/ other names). Because we are in deep trouble and we need help from a higher power (as well as taking the medication if any). And it maybe that we come out of it once this connectivity has been well established. And here I don't mean going crazy about religion but instead knowing who or what the creator is and establishing a good relationship with It (or Him). For me it is a spirit, so it's neither male nor female.

And once you come to know it's loving nature and beauty you may then be closer to recovery. Every day you move closer and closer to it. And you may see that this phase is there for the purpose of reconnection. I can't be definite about this here but I am saying that it may be looked at that way. For some people it may work with them seeing it like that and for others maybe no. This is just my own subjective analysis based on my personal experience with it. So i don't want to impose it on anyone.

For some it may just be a chemical issue in their brains and on taking medication they recover. I don't know.

But this is how I currently see the issue. And after connecting well my life has, very thankfully, significantly improved. I feel blessed and thankful. Even though i may go through difficult issues in life eg work or family problems etc. And the depression thankfully has never really returned. And so I am very happy.

I hope this helps.

Best regards and salams

Ali Twaij

alitwaij@hotmail.com
I speak English and Arabic.


This maybe a useful article:

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/ummah/community/living-with-depression-and-islam

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