Saiko

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"do you believe in psychology?"

a friend of mine was asked this question when she was with her team.

yes everyone,

i am currently doing my Psychiatry rotation,

for the last few weeks of my 4th year in Medicine, Alhamdulillah :)

*******

we were at the kitchen table, discussing the things we had for the day; whatever was thrown our way, be it questions from consultants, interesting patients, interesting cases.

back to the question, so it was a rather interesting one i'd say. asking if we actually believe in such a thing called psychotherapy. psychology; what is it actually? Mr Wiki defines it as study of mental changes and behaviour. so how far do we believe that there is such a thing as a therapy for the mind? if we were to go through the list of mental problems, there would be associated therapies that can be offered, ranging from the usual consultations, to taking drugs and to having wires attached to your brain.

so again, do we believe in such a thing called psychology?

******

and interestingly my friend answered no; she doesn't believe in this. 

"that's why Islam taught us about moderation in the Quran and Sunnah."

that was her answer. no worries people, i believe we are all entitled to our own opinions. 

and so long one's opinion does not contradict Allah's Words, 

i think we should all welcome differing opinions. ngeee~

********

moderation

somewhat i believe that her answer is true. seems like to a certain extent, all this mental issues  boils down to the fact that we might have slipped outside of the boundaries of moderation. yes, we can be sad. but letting ourselves be too sad may lead to depression. yes, we can be happy. but letting ourselves be too happy leads to mania. yes we can be both happy and sad, but being in the extremes will then lead to bipolar. seems simple enough. but truth is, these things happened in a much more complex way, and it definitely does not take a day or two.

but the concept of moderation that Islam taught us is definitely something that we should keep in mind. because it's through moderation that Allah reminds us to be in control of whatever that happens in our lives, be it a happy or a sad occasion. Quran and Sunnah taught us to keep Dunya in our hands and Hereafter in our Hearts, because more often that we hoped for, Dunya always takes something away from us.

but saying all these doesn't mean that for those who have problems are at fault. 

"awak yang lebih-lebih, sebab tu awak sakit." 

oh no. 

again, these psychiatric problems doesn't happen in a day or two, and it certainly doesn't happen because of a single trigger, but a whole bunch of them; neglect in family, too much stress at school, friends who are not really friends, not having enough to survive the day, well the list goes on. often enough, we easily come to conclusions without trying to put ourselves in their shoes. say i saw some boys who do not perform solat and they were playing cards all throughout the day. while we'd often easily give the good-old-sigh... "budak-budak zaman sekarang~~", but in actual fact they have been brought up in a home where all they care about is "kais pagi makan pagi", along with parents who do not perform the daily prayer themselves, not to mention having left school at Standard 6 with limited exposure to ad-Deen. now, who is to be blamed here? *huhu*

so anyhow, back to our point, i am not saying that those who have these disorders are just because they have stepped out of the boundaries of moderation. i'm sure with all my heart that they too wondered at how things have gotten out of their grasps. but do not worry, having lost it once does not mean you will lose it again, it all comes back to how willing you are to fight through this ordeal, fight through your emotions, fight through your own thoughts; fight, till you are able to step back into the safe circle of moderation. it might be a harder path for those with these fluctuating disorders, but that should not be a hindering factor, since the harder it is, the greater the bounty is for sure, and Allah is ever the Watchful.

okay, truth is, i don't know what i am trying to explain here but i just did. it's been quite interesting for me lately to see things that are definitely unfamiliar to me. and to be able to listen to stories of people that you can only hear of in the movies. you thought that they exaggerated but truth is, they exist and it's definitely not an easy path to be in; just the more reason for us to be thankful isn't it?

wallahua'lam.

linked

ps: medicine is truly awesome. 

doakan kami :)