Distress and Worry

EsinIslam Ramadan

Ramadan Explorer

'A'ishah Al Hakamy

Question

I do not know what to write?

I do not have a clear cause for the distress and worry I feel in my chest. My condition is the same as the last Ramadan where I felt tightness in my chest, but it was gone during the last ten days of Ramadan. This year I was happy in the beginning of Ramadan, but in the following day, I had a strong feeling of distress and lasted up-to-now even though I do not know the reason. As for my worship, thanks to Allah, it was perfect and that distress did not affect me. When I speak with someone in any subject, distress leaves my chest. Up to the moment and unlike my previous condition, I do not like to enter the kitchen and when I enter the kitchen to prepare food, it does not take much time. Furthermore, I do not have much free time in Ramadan, and I expect that all people are busy. Sometimes, I feel that I want to cry but I conceal that.

So, what is the best solution to get rid of that feeling? May Allah reward you the best!

Answer

Dear Muslim sister, may Allah open your chest for happiness and facilitate all your matters.

It seems that you have a kind of depression which is called "Atypical depression." This kind of depression has all the known symptoms of the usual depression, like: depression, guilt, loss of value, and loss of interest, enjoying of hobbies or activities that a person used to enjoy before, in addition to difficulty of concentration and remembering. Moreover, feeling of tension accompanied by some physical symptoms, such as: suffocation, dyspnea, but it is distinct from other kinds of depression in the following symptoms, such as:

• Increasing sleep hours.
• Increasing appetite which leads to obesity.
• Improving of mood when positive things take place, such as: parties and meeting friends outside then the melancholic mood comes back again as soon as a depressed sits alone.

The cure:

First: Pharmacologic cure through taking anti-atypical depression medication through your doctor.

Second: Decreasing caffeine that exists in: tea, coffee, Cola, and Chocolate.

Third: Having healthy food, focusing on foods that contain "chromium," like beef, black rice, cheese, chicken breast, corn, corn oil, egg, fish, sea food, fruits, and fresh vegetables, and licorice."

Fourth: Exercising sports and daily contemplation for twenty minutes.

Fifth: Avoiding loneliness as much as possible along with going out with family and friends.

Sixth: Engaging in voluntary acts and helping others.

Seventh: Writing for twenty minutes all you feel or things which you wish to do because writing is a good mean for emotional catharsis.

Eighth: Sitting daily under the sun at the first sunrise hours for 10 minutes.

Ninth: Decreasing the hours of watching TV because some studies linked between watching TV and the feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Tenth: Practice your favorite hobbies, such as drawing or crocheting or any other creative matters because creativity is an effective cure for depression.

Finally, do not forget the invocation of distress and grief: "Allahumma innee ‘amatuk wa bint ‘abdika wa bint amatika, naasiyati bi yadika, maadin fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadaa'uka, as'aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw ‘allamtahu ahadan min khalqika aw ista'tharta bihi fi ‘ilm il-ghaybi ‘andak an taj'ala al-Qur'aana rabee' qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa'a huzni wa dhahaaba hammi (O Allah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your female slave, my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every Name belonging to You which You named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You, that You make the Qur'an the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety)"

May Allah open your chest for happiness, facilitate all your matters, and make you happy in this world and in the Hereafter, Amen.

I ask Allah to make you in the best condition and do not forget me in your invocations.
 

EsinIslam Ramadan Team

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