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Are you making these mistakes when treating mental illness?

Are you making these mistakes when treating mental illness?
IMAGE © Image Source/Corbis

Five years have passed since my Bipolar diagnosis.

The best moments weren’t at the top when I reached a specific goal though it felt good for a while.

The best moments came along the journey, the people I’ve met and lessons I’ve learnt because of Bipolar.

From those lessons, I will share the top three mistakes you definitely want to avoid when treating mental illness for yourself or a loved one.

1. Abandoning Allah.

The hardest part is not the mental illness. It’s leaving Allah out of your plan that screws things up.

When you forget Allah and attempt to treat your illness alone, you won’t go very far. And you’ll be fighting more than the illness. You’ll be fighting the Shaytan…alone!

When Bipolar, Depression or Schizophrenia is turning your world upside, you’ll be glad to hold to The Ever-Lasting.

2. O, that this too too solid flesh would melt

Losing a purpose and passion in your life hinders mental illness treatment. You’re already facing a tough illness. Add to it a dull life and you’re done for.

When you’ve got a passionate purpose like “worshiping Allah” and can translate it into solid actions and goals that speak to you, your life becomes meaningful. It doesn’t revolve around the illness.

Your living becomes for Allah through work you enjoy and work that appeases Him.

3. Appointment overload.

At one point I was seeing 6 different health professionals. Things got tricky when I had to keep track of all the appointments. And it was no treat when I had to pay 71$ for missing a 45 minute appointment.

Lesson learnt: get organized. Keep an organizer (paper or electronic) with all appointment dates. Buy a pill container to organize your meds.

So spice up your purpose, stay organized and above all keep Allah in your mind and heart. This way you’ll have a head start.

About Saba Malik


Saba founded this blog in November 2008 to share her lessons from bipolar disorder. She holds a bachelors degree in Secondary Education from McGill University. Currently, she studies psychology at Concordia University.

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16 Comments »

  1. Saba, I think this is the best advise yet. JAK

    //Tehenita
    9 November 2009 at 12:17 pm

  2. Thank you Tehenita for the support. This post has been in my head for months and what you see it just the tip.

    In sha Allah more to come!

    //Saba Malik
    10 November 2009 at 10:35 pm

  3. what an awesome blog! I applaud you for speaking out and speaking so well on something so close to you. I have always wanted to be in the field of mental health and break down the barriers and taboos Muslims face when trying to heal. My life took a different direction, but the field is still very close to me. You are courageous for educating and inspiring us all!

    //abdullah's mama
    17 November 2009 at 6:06 pm

  4. Abdullah’s mama,

    What interests you about breaking down the barriers and taboos Muslims face when trying to heal in the field of mental health?

    //Saba Malik
    17 November 2009 at 10:09 pm

  5. I don’t think my words were very clear–I was referring to Muslims who are dealing with mental illness and are themselves struggling to heal and live with their illness, but the whole ignorance surrounding mental health in our community serves as a barrier for them to get treatment. Parents often will not acknowledge that a child has a mental illness, and will resist seeking treatment. People are afraid to be labeled, to be judged, and so they don’t get the treatment they need. Our community needs some education in this area.

    //abdullah's mama
    23 November 2009 at 10:47 pm

  6. Hello, sister Saba Malik, I am really glad to find your blog via google. I am a muslimah, living in Indonesia and I am a native Indonesian. It has been 9 years since I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A thing that I hate most of being a bipolar is that I have no sufficient control to be well-organized. It is nice to read your blog ! It is kind to have a friend that could share similar problem. I really appreciate your suggestion of not abandoning Allah in facing bipolar disorder. Thank you.

    //Ema
    30 November 2009 at 9:17 pm

  7. Abdullah’s mama, you’re right on when you say our community needs some education in this area. I would say ALOT. And that education begins with the self, then family, then community.

    My vision is that MorningWind breaks down that ignorance barrier one comment and post at a time :)

    Having the label of mental illness for some is unbearable, even for me.

    So it’s best to peel off or leave all labels.

    I don’t label myself as “mentally ill.” Never. An illness is simply something we HAVE, not something we are.

    //Saba Malik
    30 November 2009 at 9:58 pm

  8. Ema,

    I am so happy and relieved to see you here. And yes how can we abandon Allah when He has opened the door for us!

    About organization, what tools can you use to stay organized? What routine will you establish? This is a must for people with Bipolar. I recommend using the 5 salah and 3 meals to establish a routine. Then you can add tasks in between prayers and meals.

    ps: Check out this nice blog on untangling your time by brother Nahyan. Click here

    //Saba Malik
    30 November 2009 at 10:03 pm

  9. Saba, thank you for the reply.

    I use a self-made “what to do list” that including mood tracker and 5 salah. However, it has been 1 month I did not fill it out, since I was rather overloaded by tasks of my job. Then, now I am in a mild depressive episode. It has been about two weeks and I am still looking for a good way to recover to normal mood. It is always difficult for me to recover from deppression…

    Thank you for the info about the blog of brother Nahyan. I’ll see it.

    //Ema
    4 December 2009 at 7:36 pm

  10. Sister Saba, this is Ema again.

    I have registered to brother Nahyan’s “untangling your time” program. I think it is a nice program, because the first lesson is about procrastination. One thing that I hate so much but I did it over and over…

    Thank you for the info.

    //Ema
    4 December 2009 at 8:08 pm

  11. Jazakallahukhair for the mention sr.Saba, I’m really liking your site as well. mashaAllah.

    Jazakallahukhair sr.Ema for checking it out, inshaAllah you benefit immensely from it.

    //Nahyan
    5 December 2009 at 12:48 pm

  12. Jazakillah khayran sister Saba for this post and for all the amazing posts, e-books, reminders, etc. that you continuously work on and share with us. May Allah bless you with the best of this dunya and the next.

    But I just had one question in relation to the first point and maybe even the second.
    What is a person supposed to do when it feels like their iman levels are heading downwards and their passion for life, if that’s what you can call it, seems MIA?

    //Random Person
    1 January 2012 at 10:24 am

  13. Dear Random Person :)

    Iman levels go up and down. That is normal. What is not normal, is when we allow the iman to keep heading downwards and do nothing about it.

    Of course, this happens to me as well. When my iman starts to go down, like really down, I check my salah. I increase my khusho by praying right when the prayer comes in. I concentrate when making wudu and the words I recite during the salah.

    I also listen to the Quran more or listen to an Islamic lecture. And when possible, I attend an Islamic lecture or just hang out with an uplifting friend.

    Sometimes, I even find a good reminder and post it on my blog here.

    Sometimes, despite all this, you might be finding it hard to keep your iman up. When that happens, a person is usually in deep depression. In that case, medical treatment should be sought. And the praying must be kept up no matter how hard it is.

    //Saba (author)
    1 January 2012 at 1:04 pm

  14. As for the passion in life, that is a personal journey everyone must take in their life.

    Go on a journey of self discovery (read self-help books, get a life-coach, do goal setting, set your priorities straight etc…) and find out what is that one thing you love to do. That thing must also help people and it’d be nice if you can make money through it too.

    Sometimes, a traumatic event can help us find out our passion. So look back and see what you can learn from your hardships.

    I hope that helps.

    I look forward to more of your comments!

    //Saba (author)
    1 January 2012 at 1:07 pm

  15. As a sister with a sexual addiction, this advice applies very well masha Allah. It’s right on. JazakiAllahukhayr for that reminder.

    //Anonymous
    29 March 2012 at 4:33 pm

  16. Wa iyakum Anonymous sister. In sha Allah I’ll be answering a question soon on sexual addiction. Look for it in the coming days! Maybe that might help or interest you as well.

    //Saba Malik (author)
    29 March 2012 at 6:50 pm

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