Dealing With Depression: Tradition

The Islamic faith is not unfamiliar with tests and tribulations. This is the fourth in a series of articles on depression according to Islam. It is from the On Demand Course: Mental Health Workshop – An Islamic Guide to Dealing with Depression.

It is in the The Life of The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that you find the Prophet, (Allah bless him and give him peace) at his most human. You find the companions at their most human. 

When you read the Sira, you experience joy and sorrow, triumph and defeat, loss and gain.

The Year of Sadness

There is a famous year, which we all know. The year of sadness. Whose sadness? The sadness of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). The grief of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

He (Allah bless him and give him peace) lost his beloved wife, our mother Khadija and he lost his uncle, Abu Talib.

That was also the year of the night journey (Mi‘raj). The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) experienced emotions in a fully human way. He wept. He felt joy, worry, and he felt ease. All of these states that we recognise in ourselves, we see in the Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace). We see in the Companions. 

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is like us but not like us. Allah says:

قُلْ إِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ بَشَرٌۭ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَىَّ أَنَّمَآ إِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌۭ وَٰحِدٌۭ ۖ

“Say, ‘I am but a human being like any of you: I have received divine inspiration that your god is but One God” [Quran, 18:110; ]

How do we approach depression, anxiety and so forth from an Islamic perspective? We understand that in the Quran and Sunna, these human experiences are present. They are there. You just have to look for them and do not have to look very hard at them. 

Balkhi’s Manual on Health

Abu Zayd Balkhi wrote a manual, really for public health. It is called, “The Restoration of Bodies and Minds” (Masaliha al-Abdan wa al-Anfus).

It is the part about the minds that have captured people’s interest in modern times. He provides an overview of Islamic psychology, in which he tackles the concepts of depression, anxiety, obsession, and anger or paranoia in an incredibly modern way. 

It works very well from a modern perspective. His book has eight chapters. In the first chapter writes about how mental health is really important. Sustaining and looking after your mental health is even more important than looking after your physical health. He mentions this after ten chapters on physical health. 

People think it is not important, but it is. It is very important. Because your mind is who you are. Your body is what you have, but your mind is who you are.

Bear in mind, the stigma that mental health has in our community. Now think about the fact that a thousand years ago, in the heart of the Muslim civilization, in Baghdad in the 10th century, you have Abu Zaid writing about its importance.

Our Mental Health

This is a book about public health. This is a book written to show us how to look after our health. The last chapter is about how to look after our mental health. 

In the second chapter, he talks about the importance of good mental hygiene. What we would today call preventative mental health. Protecting yourself from losing your good mental health. He talks about gathering up positive thoughts. 

One of the things he wrote about was that everybody will experience some degree of sorrow, some degree of anxiety, some degree of anger, and some degree of obsessiveness. Everyone has that experience. But it varies in degree and intensity.

The Human Condition

He taught how this is a universal human condition. We need to recognize this in ourselves. When we have it, to a small degree, we should learn how to deal with and cope with it, because when it comes to a stronger degree, we already have some protection.

Then talks about the basic principles of restoring good mental health. Things like being in good company, storing up positive thoughts,  relaxation, diet, and exercise. 

He then talks about different types of conditions – about what is a normal variant and what is pathological. He talks about how to handle the normal variants from thoughts from an emotional perspective and then from a behavioral perspective. 

How to Manage

Abu Zaid, a thousand years ago, is talking about thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, in terms of situations and their consequences. He mentions that some forms of depression are reactive to circumstances. Those are stressors, as previously mentioned.

He also writes how others just suddenly appear out of nowhere and you have no idea what is causing it. He then says that type of depression needs treatment with medication. This is what a psychiatrist in the 21st century would tell you. 

He goes into talking about anxiety. He talks about low-level anxiety and very severe anxiety and how they can be managed. In each of these conditions, he delves into when you can manage it yourself when you can manage it with the support of family, friends and so forth, and when you need to seek professional help.

Abu Zaid’s work is a self-help manual that works pretty much as well today as it worked a thousand years ago.