Unfortunately,
in Pakistan talking about mental health is a stigma just like talking about s**. It is also least understood and wrongly conceived.
Well
most of us don’t know that whatever we tell our subconscious mind, it believes
in it. So how many of us tell our mind the ‘good things’ ? Allah tells us repeatedly
in Quran to be thankful. But why the creator of heave and earth, the As Samad (self-sufficient) need our thanks?
It is because He has created us and He knows that how our mind works. So if we
will tell our mind positive things, automatically positive energy will be
created and if we will always focus on negativity, we will turn into a negative
person, eventually falling into anxiety and depression.
I
used to think that just by offering 4 prayers, hardly 5 in a day and reciting
Alhamdulillah dua after eating food, I was being enough thankful to my Lord. It
was just that recently I realized that how ungrateful I’d been to my Lord by thinking about 'ifs' and 'whys'. Through self-reflection, I realized that constant nagging about certain
situations like ‘but I wanted this’ ‘but I am made like this’ ‘but
I can’t be like this’ ‘I wish’ have gradually made me an ‘Unhappy’
person. It has become easy for me to find reasons for being ‘anxious’ or ‘unhappy’. But after much needed self-therapy, counseling
with peers and reading a book on positivity, I have realized 90% of problems
are just in my mind, not in real.
Another
thing I realized is that only you’re responsible for your own life and
happiness. Allah tells us that this world is temporary, so are the people. So
try to be self-reliant and indulge in happiness which may not necessarily involve
‘people’ or ‘huge money’.
Third,
take very good care of yourself – your mental and physical health (no it doesn’t
mean binge TV watching or Facebooking). Anything which involve nurturing of your mind, body or soul. It could be as little as using a DIY
mask at home, reading your favorite book, making your favorite recipe or going to a massage center. Try to
eat healthy and stay physically active.
