Season 4 Trailer: Mental Health and Islam

Have you noticed how Mental health is now in the spotlight, especially in the UK & US 10 yrs ago it wasn't on the radar, so I’m wondering why? Do you think possibly it could be because in the US there has been a 400% increase in antidepressant use from 1988- 2008? Or because 41k Americans commit suicide every year? Oh and let me tell you, the UK is catching up pretty fast with the US, unfortunately. Naturally, health professionals  are concerned and  they want their governments to fund more research and start tackling this problem seriously. Of course we know they will come up with solutions based on their beliefs, so being secular they will mainly look to science to solve the problem. However there does seem to be a shift towards seeing the benefits of Yoga, meditation and mindfulness practices, which originates from Hinduism and Buddhism. So western nations are realising that they don’t have all the answers. It’s interesting to note that studies have shown, the rate of suicide is lower in poor countries compared to wealthier countries and they poorer countries have a higher rate of perceived meaning in life. As Muslims living in secular, liberal societies we are not immune from mental health issues. Could it be that maybe we suffer from a reluctance to admit we don’t know how to deal with stress, grief, depression or trauma. So we don’t take out time for ourselves to try to understand what is causing us to not have peace of mind. In addition we don’t take the time to find solutions i.e spiritual, conceptual or medical to help us get emotionally better. So in season 4 of A Muslim Mom podcast I want to explore the complex issue of mental health What are the issues causing us stress where we feel we are not able to cope with life. I want us to question what ideas have we allowed to take residence in our minds but are in conflict with our natural fitra. Who are you letting influence you that is causing you emotional turmoil. Based on my own recent experiences of losing my father and my son, my saviour has been to shift my thinking from relying on myself to relying on Allah and so I will be exploring the Islamic narrative on how to gain meaning and purpose and peace of mind when you are feeling overwhelmed. It really does work! I believe secular liberals could learn life changing lessons from our Islamic perspective on mental health, if only they were more open-minded and less intolerant. So,I'm genuinely excited about this topic because I’ve been reading and learning a lot and inshallah, by Allah’s grace and mercy I want to share what I have learnt with you.  Inshallah let’s remember each other in our duas. Your sister Farhat Amin https://farhatamin.com/muslim-podcast/. https://blog.feedspot.com/muslim_podcasts/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/farhatamin/message