Excerpt from Awaken the Giant Within One day, when my son Joshua was about six years old, he came home crying hysterically because one of his friends fell off some playground equipment at school and died. I sat down with Josh and said, “Honey, I know how you feel. You miss him, and you should [...]

It’s a serene Sunday morning. The air is soft. I dip a sweet lemon cookie in warm chai. I take the first bite. As the soft cookie melts in my  mouth, I taste heaven. With a calming tone, Shaykh Khalil-Husari recites surah Noor. Alhumdulillah. No better praise enters my heart. Reflecting on my past and [...]

In sha Allah So what tips am I talking about? First, be sure to check out my favorite Ramadan post. I just read it so that I keep my sanity this Ramadan, not that I didn’t have it last year. So here are my tips for an awesome Ramadan (green stuff =goodies): 1. Revive your intention. [...]

When Maryam alayhi asalaam finds out that she is going to have a baby, she asks how can that be when no mortal has touched her. To that Allah replies in the Quran, “It is easy for me” (19:21). And because Allah says this in Quran, it’s my firm belief that we can thrive with a [...]

I sure hated myself when I overlooked the last mania episode warning sign: delusions. Your brain is like a filling cabinet. It stores information and when you see similar object, it searches your cabinet to identify the object. When delusions hit, it’s as if somebody just messed up all the files in your cabinet and [...]

So we’re up to warning sign #4 for mania episodes. I’ve been behind in blogging but I’m back. The main and easiest way I can tell that a severe or even a mild episode is heading my way is by examining my sleep schedule. Regular sleep for Muslims with Bipolar is super important and here’s why: Think [...]

“Did you see him flirting with those girls? And he has a beard!” “What pants! Her jeans seemed like they were painted on! She gives us hijabis a bad rep.” And on and on the comments run. Hypersexuality is the toughest and trickiest warning signs I’ve had to deal with in my 6 years with Bipolar. [...]

So it’s been exactly 2 weeks since I last blogged. And I usually blog every week. And this takes me to my second warning sign of a mania episode – taking on too much. With the grandiose thoughts that mania brings, we start thinking we’re a god. We make gigantic promises and fail to look [...]

When I make chai, I sometimes forget it on the stove and of course it boils over, leaving a crusty residue. And if I become lazy and leave the mess, it just gets harder and harder to clean later. So after countless accidents, I either watch the tea or if it does spill over, I [...]

Having not just survived but thrived with Bipolar for over 5 years, I’ve learnt a lot about this beast. And the main lesson I’ve learnt is that Bipolar episodes are very predictable. When they hit, they usually give warning signs before they come. So I am doing a 5 part series on the five early warning [...]