Belief and Mental Health

[LeoSalinas22]

but i mean, how can you tell? i mean, must someone be arrested or actually physically hurt someone before he or she is considered to have a mental illness?

[ardenz]

Originally Posted by LeoSalinas22

hi everyone,
sorry to interrupt but i came across this thread and found it interesting because of the fact that faith in God can exist despite of mental flaws. anyways, i got to thinking that perhaps i have bi-polar and don't even know it? is that possible?

Hi Leo,

I do not want to give you unqualified advice, but whatever you think or feel may be a problem, it is good that you have noticed it and I think it is important to listen to what loved ones have to say.

I am glad that my husband is able to notice when I am in a bad state. And no, it doesn't have to be about yelling and tempers.

Some others here may be able to tell you more.

[dauer]

sorry to interrupt but i came across this thread and found it interesting because of the fact that faith in God can exist despite of mental flaws.

I think one of the things that holds a lot of people back is seeing something that is different about them as a flaw instead of a gift and something that makes them special and unique.

[LeoSalinas22]

Originally Posted by dauer

I think one of the things that holds a lot of people back is seeing something that is different about them as a flaw instead of a gift and something that makes them special and unique.

that is where you and i differ, my friend, i am a very flawed individual. i am not special nor unique. i am glad you have a high self esteem for yourself, something i sorely lack.

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by Francis king

yes, dairy products contain a substance called tryptophan, (sp?) which is a naturally occuring substance a bit like prozac- makes u feel all warm n contented after eating...

Hi Francis

I find cream cakes and chocolate have that effect for me - reminds me I must go on a diet soon.

Salaam

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

Show me an adult with no “irrational” fears, no anxieties, no neuroses, no phobias, no “delusions”, no unaccountable mood swings and no “irrational” beliefs and I’ll show you a liar (or at least someone with an appalling lack of self-awareness!).

s.

LMAO wallah azeem, ana bahebek Snoopy. Thank you, you are now officially classed (in my grandmothers terms) as "a treasure".

Big Hug
Salaam
MW

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

She would just sit there and cry for days on end when she wasnt sleeping.

Hi FS

Thank you for sharing. The above is perfectly normal, for someone with bipolar, but must have been so confusing and scary for a child to witness. The meds do cause awful memory problems and confusion.

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

We thought it would have been a relief if she would just die.. Please understand that we were all young and had no idea what was going on with her or what to do.. It shames me very deeply.

Please try to let this feeling of shame go, there is nothing to be ashamed of. My parents adore me, yet they could never understand my illness, for years they kept saying "just pull yourself together". When they began to grasp what they were dealing with Mum explained that if it was a broken bone she could understand but the inner workings of a troubled mind was just beyond her. At one point she also wanted me to die, she deeply wanted my suffering and confusion to stop and to be honest, now I am much more balanced, I can see the depth of love required to have these feelings and I hope she feels no shame. If you did not love your Mother her condition would not have affected you this way, you would have just walked away and forgotten about her.

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

I asked her if we could pray and she said yes please.. and we prayed. Within minutes after that prayer she proceeded to tell me a story.. one that I hadnt heard since I was very young. Her voice was clear and strong and not thin and small.. I believe she was set free that day.

G-d bless you for this FS. This is all it takes, a chink of light in the darkness and believe me I know of no darker place than trapped in your own mind.

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

They say its genetic.. Ive had my bouts of depression but I think they are normal day to day stress related depressions. I dont believe they are clinical.. my mom thinks they are.

Perhaps she is just afraid of this? You would not wish this illness on your enemy let alone your child. No-one else in my family is known to have suffered from this (although my father suffers from depression).

Salaam

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by LeoSalinas22

that is where you and i differ, my friend, i am a very flawed individual. i am not special nor unique. i am glad you have a high self esteem for yourself, something i sorely lack.

Firstly sorry to everyone for 4 different posts but I don't know how to quote different people in the same post.

Hi Leo

This is only my personal opinion and I am very far from being educated in mental health. Bipolar causes really high highs and extremely low lows, so one week you are king of the world and the next you can't get out of bed, get dressed and just want to die. Anger has never been a part of the illness for myself or those I speak to in my support group. Perhaps you should go to see a doctor, if nothing else he/she may be able to get you into anger management classes?

Your above comments concern me, it seems that your anger is always focused on your 'perceived faults'. No-one is perfect and every person on the planet is unique and special, you just haven't found your special quality yet. Maybe you need to let go of some of this anger and self loathing before your special quality will show through? Have you ever thought that one of your children may grow up to find a cure for a disease, go to feed kids in Africa or just have amazing kids of their own - perhaps this is your special gift to the world?

Salaam
MW

[Francis king]

cheers for the links, dauer and snoopy...

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by LeoSalinas22

hi everyone,
sorry to interrupt but i came across this thread and found it interesting because of the fact that faith in God can exist despite of mental flaws. anyways, i got to thinking that perhaps i have bi-polar and don't even know it? is that possible? my wife tells me so but i don't notice. i have a very bad temper and always shout alot, especially when i get angry. i always feel the need to want to beat someone's face in for no apparent reason. i am seldom happy, mostly depressed. when i laugh, everyone looks at me funny. perhaps because i laugh too loud? well, question being, is it possible to have a mental problem and not know it? i ask because, here in south texas alot of the hispanics have tempers and are very honest and aren't inhibited at all about their opinions. making it seem like bi-polar is normal? anyways, hope to hear from someone soon. thanks and God bless.

Hi Leo,

Well anyone can “have” something but not know it; and no-one on a website like this can say if someone has or hasn’t got anything with certainty, and by and large we’re not “qualified” to. Bi-polar cannot, by definition I’d say be “normal”. The civilian population of Baghdad may all suffer from depression and anxiety but I wouldn’t therefore want to say that it was “normal”. Maybe you should try to do something about your feelings so that the day doesn’t come that you beat someone’s face in for no apparent reason. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, yes? You are special and unique, like the 8 billion rest of us. You don’t have to be the President or Mick Jagger to be that. There’s no-one else quite like you, nor like me (thankfully!).

s.

[dauer]

I've been reading Growing Within: The Psychology of Inner Development, a selection from the works of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother compiled with an introduction by A. S. Dalal. There's one passage I read last night that I wanted to share.

It's in the section on basic requisites for growth of consciousness, in a sub-section about aspiration. The Mother is answering a question about igniting the psychic fire within. First she says that it is lit by aspiration and speaks of people with strong will who, in changing their focus automatically light the psychic fire themselves. Then she says:

"And each defect one wants to cure or each progress one wants to make -- if all that is thrown into the fire, it burns with a new intensity. And this is not an image, it is a fact in the subtle physical... And when there is something in the nature which prevents one from advancing and one throws it into this fire, it begins to burn and the flame becomes more intense."

That's on page 34. Although Sri Aurobindo seems to view moral growth as distinct from inner growth, I've come across multiple references in reading to inner growth as something that gives one a greater ability to work on aspects of one's character and on the refinement of character as part of the path to inner growth. The Mother once even says that true sincerity, which most people never reach, is that when we commit ourselves to a certain action that it is our whole being doing so, and there is not a conflicting voice within us.

That sounds quite parallel to the chabad understanding of rasha (a wicked person) beinoni (someone in between) and tzadik (a rightous person or, in the case of hasidism, a rebbe.) The beinoni is considered the greatest most people can achieve, which is to be in a state where there may be inner conflict, there may be times one feels tempted to do things that are wrong, but one's actions are in line with what is right.

And although the rebbe is considered a tzadik, when asked Reb Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the alter rebbe of chabad, quoted someone from the gemara and said, "I'm a beinoni."

Dauer

[Faithfulservant]

Perhaps she is just afraid of this? You would not wish this illness on your enemy let alone your child. No-one else in my family is known to have suffered from this (although my father suffers from depression).

I think you are right.. I think shes afraid that I may have it.. she and I are very much alike in every way.. its almost scary. But I am 34 years old and I have never felt what I think she felt.

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

I think you are right.. I think shes afraid that I may have it.. she and I are very much alike in every way.. its almost scary. But I am 34 years old and I have never felt what I think she felt.

To be honest if I had a biological child every time they were very happy or sad I would be whisking them off to the doctor but this would just be my own fear that they would go through the same thing.