Zen or a Zoloft? A Muslim Dilemma towards inner peace

“I’m not feeling well, I’m not thinking well, and I’m not doing well. I really feel in my lowest lows.”

“Have you checked your faith recently? Maybe you need to pray more and just leave things for God.”

A conversation that I accidentally eavesdropped on while I was strolling down the streets of my neighborhood. It filled me with this sudden urge to pull out my degree and just throw it down the drain, because who needs therapy anyways?

Let’s take a step back and state what we already know about faith and mental wellbeing

Mental illnesses are multi-factorial, they can come from genetics, biology, environment, and spirituality but they are not just a lack of spiritually.

Having faith has been linked to having better relationships, lower suicide risks, and an overall better sense of life satisfaction. Faith and spirituality frequently serve as crucial elements in the healing journey for individuals who practice a religion. Interestingly, within these communities, individuals grappling with mental health issues often turn to their faith leaders as their initial source of support. Reliant on divine intervention for healing, they may perceive seeking psychiatric assistance as a sign of spiritual weakness. Some may interpret their symptoms as a form of divine punishment, a consequence of their sins, or a feeling of abandonment by God.

Unfortunately, these doubts might be confirmed by religious leaders or even friends and family who would confirm that the reason why they’re currently struggling is largely due to their “lack of faith” or something wrong they have done in their relationship with God. Typically, this would lead the person to feel even worse about themselves, question if they’re doing anything right, or even doubt the relationship they have with God, thinking “maybe he is mad at me and I do deserve what is happening to me”.

Our great scholars who were the pioneers in the field thought differently. When Abū Zayd Al-Balkhī’ used to treat his patients, he did not only prescribe meditation and prayer, but he also worked on more than 20 herb combinations for depression, aroma therapy, exercise, fasting, exposure therapy, and talk therapy. Therefore, it would be really unfair to really throw all the blame on the persons’ lack of faith, when there exists other ways to provide treatment. Al-Balkhī’ gave us a stepping stone on the diversity of approaches used to treat mental illness and to highlight our need for seeking proper specialized care.

The intention behind this article is not to pinpoint the flaws that we have in our day-to-day conversations, but more to highlight the notion that we are indeed blessed to have a spiritual connection that, according to a wealth of literature improves our mental wellbeing, AND at the same time we also need to recognize that a decent portion of our issues are aching for the support of a mental health provisional who is well trained and equipped to take on this assignment and support us throughout.

Holistic wellbeing is what we are looking for, balancing the mind, body, and soul.

If you ever eavesdrop on a similar conversation, I hope this piece of writing will come in handy.