Dear All
Mental illnesses are the most misunderstood in our society. Usually,
these uncased diseases are taken very lightly. And when these become
serious, the society harshly outcasts their victims as crazy and
maniac. Depression is perhaps the highest reported problem in today's
modern world. Especially women are the most exposed to it. And are at
the greatest risk. More than half of our women folk suffers intense
sadness, pessimism, worthlessness and sense of guilt, which affect
their physical and mental health. They lose or gain excessive weight,
face problems in sleep, mourn endlessly, withdraw socially, are unable
to perform their role efficiently and in extreme cases commit suicide.
Youth is another major sufferer of depression and anxiety in the modern
world. Poor parent-child relationships, undue high expectations,failure
in life are the main reasons behind it. This Youth that rather than
expressing its anger towards others, it becomes angry about itself
and develops negative self-image that results in chronic depression.
Now added to it is the amazing phenomenon: every one of us claims to be
sensitive, complains about being alone and misunderstood but fails to
solve this self-created alienation by sharing our feelings and pains
with others. The major reasons are that we are losing that closely-knit
family and friends' structure that used to function as a support group
in such situations. We are also lacking the strength based on values
that provides a shelter against all miseries and evils. These problems
are the result of emotional instability. Declining social environment
is another major determinant of increasing mental health problems in
recent years. Poverty, over-crowded living onditions,unemployment, job
insecurity and inequity, a growing number of broken relations and
marriages, man-made natural disasters, wars, ethnic violence as well as
violence against women (in the east especially), children and older
people are some of the major factors which aggravate the situation. The
other factor making the situation worse all the more is the increasing
accent on material gains. This has become a worldwide phenomenon and
has resulted in drastic remolding of people's perceptions about values
and the gradual extinction of the young man with ideals. It is more so
for the rising middle class whose scions are money wise more ambitious.
The depressed people pass on through an extremely painful phase and
need full emotional and professional support to get back their faith in
life and in themselves.
Nation nourishes in the lap of trained, literate, and loving mother as
woman reared up under the canopy of the values enshrined in the Quran.
There is now a broad consensus among development specialists that it is
vital to educate women. Illiteracy among women promotes backwardness;
it sets up a vicious cycle from which it is economically and culturally
difficult to escape. Poorly educated women tend to have large families
that normally don't enjoy good health. Health standards achieved by
poor and large families are considerably lower than those of small and
rich households are. Poor health means poor quality of human capital,
which, in turn, means low incomes. On and on goes the vicious circle.
The only way of cutting into it is to educate women.
But our trouble is that: We don't learn from history, we don't learn
from experience, we don't learn from our elders, we don't learn from
what we were taught at school, college or university. And to boot, we
are led by the corrupt and the ignorant. This generation may well say
they have no elders to teach them to differentiate wrong from right in
the light of the Quran.Who is responsible for this gross negligence?
What is to be done?Are we conscious of this situation? When to start
nullifying the effects? Even when I pray: Are we make everything
blossom that the Quran sows in the deepest recesses of heart and those
committed to the Quran are trying to inculcate.May you develop further
all the elements of prosperity which lie hidden,unseen,unknown at par
with what the Quran demands.But are we,with all my pray, prepared to
come out of this trap?
Regards
Nawaz