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Name
Minimo
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Profession
Question
My two sons age 5 & 3 and half do not have speech at all and i was told by some people that some spirit possession in some children could cause speech
problems . I took them to different doctor and did all kind of tests but they could any health problems with them .I do not know what else to do at this point except to cry out to allah please help me out if any body knows any thing about this.
thank you
Answer
First, as Muslims, we do not believe in spirit possessions. However, I still believe there is hope in seeing a speech therapist especially if they have no physical or psychiatric illness. Crying to Allah is something good, as we should all pray. I think you should seek a speech therapy center near you where a professional can give you the conclusion you would like to hear.
Name
Alia
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Profession
Question
Assalamu alaikum. I'm 35 years old, and for the past couple of years, the symptoms of depression related to pre-menstrual syndrome have been getting worse and worse with me. Up to 10 days before my menstruation begins, I start getting down and 2 days before menstruation, I frequently find myself crying for no obvious reason. The symptoms only start to fade away on the 2nd day of the menstrual cycle. Should I receive treatment for this, or should I just bare in there? Is it true that premenstrual syndrome gets worse with age? Is there anything other than medication that can help decrease the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, especially the depression?
Jazakum Allah Khair
Answer
Pre-menstrual syndrome is well documented and there are plenty of women who suffer from this syndrome. It can get worse with age especially with hormone instability in the last few years before menopause. Psychotherapy can be very helpful but anti-depressant medications have been very helpful for most women who suffer from this phenomenon.
At this stage, it would be very helpful for you to attend a psychotherapist but if it does not help much, then antidepressants should be considered. Either way, there are many antidepressants with very mild side-effects and they do no harm.
Name
Abla
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Profession
Question
What is the difference between clinical depression and normal depression that does not require medical attention? When should a person decide to go to the doctor to be treated for depression?
Thank you
Answer
There is no depression called normal. Depression is always pathological and if you can not enjoy your life then you should seek help to lift you up. Depression for more than a week is an illness especially when there is lethargia, anhedonia (a psychological condition characterized by inability to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable acts), and pessimistic thoughts. The treatment of depression these days can be managed without medication as cognitive psychotherapy can do as well.
Name
M
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Profession
Question
Salamualykum Dr.Hazem.
My question may seem a little strange. I am terrified of aeroplanes and I have never been on one before. However, I must travel by plane soon and I am horrified at the thought of just getting on a plane. I can't sleep well and I feel like I am under a lot of pressure.
Is there any way to overcome this horrible fear of aeroplanes?
Answer
Yes thanks God, this has been very well know for some time and it is called a phobia which in this case is specific to flying. You need to go through behavioral psychotherapy where they can simulate an environment similar to an airplane and help you relax and overcome the anxiety. I would advise you to go through some psychotherapy before you go on an airplane, although flying is the best treatment for this fear.
Name
Muhammad
- Egypt
Profession
Question
Dear doctor, around ten years ago i had a feeling that i will die at some moment, after that when i went to mosques i alway left out and not pray, i tried pshchologist but the medicine did not treat me, so i went to some Sheikhs who told me i am obsessed. acutally, i have been suffering from thoughts whether i am ill pschological or obssessed as more than one good Sheikh told me. I think about everything even if it is very trivial. I have strong wasawes
Answer
The feeling of dying is a very well known symptom of phobia and anxiety. Hence whenever a person is in a crowded place he would feel anxious or would panic and this is the symptom you have been experiencing.
Once you get this feeling, start avoiding the places where you get that feeling.
There is a very good treatment including medication and psychotherapy for this illness. Personally I know that the institute of psychiatry in Ainshams is a very good place for such treatment.
Obsession is an illness about something else where thoughts keep getting through the mind despite resistance and would cause anxiety. So these are completely two different illnesses.
Name
Nesma
- Australia
Profession
Question
Dear Doctor,
Assalamu alaikum.
In general, I have become less social than I was a few years ago. When I was in the university, I would spend hours on the phone talking to my friends. Now that I am married and a mother with a full time job, I hardly have the time, or the will to call up my closest family relations, let alone my friends. Most of my friends and family are angry with me because of this, but even so, I just can not bring myself to make the calls. I feel that they are extremely boring, and it's impossible to make a quick 1 or 2 minute call. Women just talk and talk and talk and don't stop. I don't have what it takes to put up with all the meaningless talking that will happen if I call them. I know that we, as Muslims, should always ask about our families and friends. Is this problem due to some mental issue I am dealing with, or is it just a sign of the busy times we are going through? Is it normal of me not to want to talk to people as much as I used to?
Thank you for your time
Answer
As you are a woman and started to call the women talk meaningless and boring, something has changed in you. Being a mother with a full-time job does not mean you have to feel bored. This means that you have started to get depressed as you have described and I believe the best thing for you at this stage as most probably is stress, you might find it very helpful talking to a professional and hopefully soon your spirit will be uplifted and then you would feel the good improvements which will take place in your life. Please do not ignore the very mild symptoms which you have described and once you feel you are not yourself that means you are in need of a professional to talk to. Islam does not mean to be pessimistic but smiling at your brother's face is a sadaqa and feeling happiness is helpful for yourself, your family, community and Islam itself.
Name
Tania
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Profession
Question
Dr.Ashoor,
I take antidepressant drugs to treat my depression, but I still don't feel that I am able to overcome it. Isn't there any other way to treat depression other than oral medicine? I'd like to raise my self-esteem without the use of medication.
Thankyou.
Answer
Psychotherapy has been proved to be as effective as antidepressants but they need a professional psychotherapist. In depression, cognitive psychotherapy, described by Beck, has helped millions of depressed people worldwide without having to resort to medications. I am not sure where you live, but I believe that you need to seek a professional psychotherapist in you area to help you get through your condition.
Name
Shaker
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Profession
Question
Salam
I would like to know how people can protect themselves from Alzhiemer's and other degenerative brain diseases that come with old age? Are there certain vitamins that prevent alzheimers?
Answer
Unfortunately, as Alzheimer disease is degenerative as you described, once the neuron has been affected, it will not restore at all. Despite the many decades in research about this disease, nothing resulted in describing prevention. If nobody in your family has suffered from this illness, the chances are little that you will suffer from, so you do not have to worry about prevention. At this stage, there are some medications which are prescribed for people who suffer from this illness although they are not very helpful.
Name
T.K
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Profession
Question
I have been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. I would like to understand more about my condition and the possible ways of treatment.
Thank you very much, Doctor.
Answer
Anorexia nervosa is an illness which affects women in general but especially at a young age, in addition to models or actresses. This is found more in the western societies and is very rare in the eastern ones.
The illness starts when women feel they are fat and need to lose some weight although they are either about the normal weight or even less than that. They avoid carbohydrates and fats and starve themselves until they are very skinny. If they binge they would do so on vegetables and would induce vomiting. This is the difference between bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa where in bulimia they would binge carbohydrates and fats.
The etiology of the illness was found at home in the family mostly where parents argue frequently. The illness is better treated with psychotherapy but if the weight is too much under normal, then feeding is the first step for the treatment even if the patient would refuse it.
Name
farhan
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Profession
Question
Dear Dr. Ashoor,
I want to know, what is Islam's way of curing persons who are mentally ill ie obsession, depression etc. I mean not that they are mad person but suffering some sort of problems owing to their families, societies or working environments. Also you know there are ways in the world like silva method which always encourages individual persons (making them aware of what they are really capable of; like they are very important to the world), what is Islam's approach of making individual persons confident of their ability?
Answer
Generally speaking, there is no specific way of treating people different in Islam than the other psychotherapies. As silva method which you described is the best way and was used by ancient people in encouraging them to discover themselves and find what they are really like as persons. Muslim doctors like Ibn Rushd and Ibn Alnafees were some of the first to talk about the unconscious, but they also used psychotherapy which we are not sure if it is similar to psychotherapy of modern days.
Name
Muslimah
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Profession
Question
asalamu alaykum
Is there any definite cure for bipolar disorder especially in Islamic medicine? Can such a person marry and what are the chances of offsprings being affected by the same disorder?
Answer
As psychiatry has been described very recently starting in the 19th century, there is no specific Islamic way of treatment other than the international way of treating it.
Bipolar disorder is an illness with good prognosis and more than 70% would be cured of it. Unfortunately, there are some who would remain with chronic either mania or depression or fluctuating between the two.
Lithium carbonates and carbamazepine are good mood stabilizers and very effective in the treatment of the disease. Although Affective Disorder is found in about 1% of the population, this would increase up to about 50% when we are talking about ill parents and to 75% in similar twins. This is not an obstacle against marriage. People can continue to marry and have normal children.
Name
SOA
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Profession
Question
Assalamu alaikum wr wb
I am 18, and I believe it is being the most difficult time for me of test, of not looking, intermingling, hearing the voices, etc. of women (girls). I cannot get marry, and fasting is not helping much (ie. I am not being able to fast right I guess...)
I remember as a new revert I had tried to develop sort of a psychological "hatred", disgust against all "unveiled", which led to me not looking and intermingling, but later I thought I might have been rude, and showed Islam wrong.
Or was it right? What could you advice me?
Answer
This has been mankind's challenge since creation; it is very hard for young people like yourself who have just finished puberty not to look or hear girls and because of that they were promised paradise if they can do so. But still it is possible for a young man like you to prevent himself from Satan. Practicing sports and affiliating with good friends can help you in expending your energies in a meaningful way. It is just the will and I believe you have a good will since you reverted to Islam.
Name
ceta
- Canada
Profession
Question
Salaam alaykoum I have a ?. It is about my son, he who is 14yrs old. He don't have any wishes to be in any sports or anything. He is always tired and closing himself up in his room most of the time. I am very confuse with his attitude and weird behaviour. He's mostly not expressive. Sometimes I would try to ask him but to no avail. What is your suggestion.
Answer
For me to give you an effective answer, I have more questions for you, for example, is he your only son, has he always been like that or was it a change since puberty?
Name
Ahmed
- Canada
Profession
Question
Asalam Alikoum,
my question is out of the subject but could you tell me about it..I live in Canada and we a brother who is from plastien and his name is Hamdi Ashor and i jsut want to know if you know him because he is Mashaallah a very good brother...jazk allah kaiera
Answer
In Palestine the Ashour family is a very large one. I personally do not know him, but, since he is a good brother, I would be honored to do so.
Name
Ilhan
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Profession
Question
Salam Brother,
What do you think about about the exorcism that the Christian priest perform on people who say that they have been possessed by demons, is it working? And also does it help the person psychologically or no. What kind of treatment is there if supposedly some people are possessed by the demons?
Answer
Muslim Shiekhs as well as have practiced this treatment but scientifically speaking it is well documented that this is an illness which affects the neurons, and the amines have been discovered to alter either up or down, for example in schizophrenia dopamine was found in excessive amounts while in depression serotonins were found in small amounts.
Giving treatment has brought these amines to the normal levels, hence patients either cured or improved and I do not believe demons will disappear because of treatment.
Name
habib
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Profession
Question
I want to know why when I submit questions to this site, I don't get any reply. why is this so?
Answer
As-salamau alaykum sister.
There could be many reasons for this, but now is not the time to submit such a query as guests have nothing to do with this.
Name
habib
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Profession
Question
i want to know i submit questions here in this site but i dont get any reply. why am i ignored?
