What is it? It’s natural to feel down sometimes, but if that low mood lingers day after day, it could signal depression. Major depression is an episode of sadness or apathy that lasts at least two consecutive weeks and is severe enough to interrupt daily activities. Depression is not a sign of weakness or a negative personality. It is a major public health problem and a treatable medical condition.

Depression Facts/Statistics Clinical depression affects about 19 million Americans annually. It is estimated to contribute to half of all suicides. About 5%-10% of women and 2%-5% of men will experience at least one major depressive episode during their adult life. Depression affects people of all races, incomes, ages, and ethnic and religious backgrounds, but it is three to five times more common in the elderly than in young people.

Symptoms and Signs feeling sad or blue, crying spells, loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities, significant increase or decrease in appetite, significant weight loss or weight gain,weight loss change in sleep pattern: inability to sleep or excessive sleeping,sleep

Symptoms and Signs agitation or irritability, fatigue or loss of energy, fatigue a tendency to isolate from friends and family, trouble concentrating, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, thoughts of death or suicide.

Causes of Depression Biochemical- as a result of abnormalities in the levels of certain chemicals in the brain.brain Heredity: Certain types of depression seem to run in some families Heredity People with certain personality traits are more likely to become depressed. Difficult life events, loss, change, or persistent stress can cause levels of neurotransmitters to become unbalanced, leading to depression Medication and substance abuse.

Muslim Perspective A lot of Muslims say, “ How can a Muslim be depressed?” It is ok to feel these emotions. You are not less of a believer if you have anxiety or feel sadness. The distinction between the believer and non-believer is that the believer remains patient and turns to Allah for assistance.

Muslim Perspective If you are suffering from low emaan (faith), then examine your relationship with Allah. Allah says, “But whosoever turns away from my reminder, verily for him is a constricted life, and we shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection.” (20:124) Allah connects dhikr (remembrance) with experiencing difficulty because dhikr enlivens the hearts. Many times when we slack in our worship, life seems to get harder, so look to your prayer and your recitation of the Qur’an and you may find the answer to your problems

Muslim Perspective Repent from your sins if you are faced with a calamity because you never know if this calamity you’re facing is a result of your own sins. One of the salaf said, “I disobey Allah to find its effect in the way my animal behaves and my wife [treats me].” Ibn Zayd said, “Sins overcome the hearts until no good can get through to them.”is a result of your own sins

Muslim Perspective Allah purifies you when you experience these emotions or pain. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.” [Bukhari]

Muslim Perspective Do not say “if” when a calamity befalls you or you did something that you’ve come to regret. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Seek help from Allah and do not lose heart, and if anything (in the form of trouble) comes to you, don’t say: If I had not done that, it would not have happened so and so, but say: Allah did what He had ordained to do and your ‘if’ opens the (gate) for Shaytan.” [Muslim]

Change your perspective… Correct diagnosis is essential A sickness of the soul cannot simply be fixed with physical medication only. Change your perspective/ approach on life Trust in Allah and don’t waste your energy on small losses. Ask what is the value of what you lost. Live in the present and do not grieve over the past and dwell on the future.

Prevention is better than a cure If you have begun to get sad than control yourself at the initial sign. Self-analysis of things that trigger your depression. What are your fears? What harms your sense of self worth? Prepare for what you expect but trust in Allah. Again focus on the present. Only Allah knows we do not know.

What are your fears? Poverty and debt. Allah provides for the creatures of the heaven and the earth He will provide for you. A calamity. But Allah says in Sura Hadid:22 “No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allah, is easy –” And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful (10:107)

What are your fears? Fear of illness Allah purifies you when you experience these emotions or pain. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.” [Bukhari]

What are your fears? Example of Prophet Ibraheem (26:78) Who created me, then He it is Who guides me, (26:79) Who gives me food and drink, (26:80) and Who gives me health when I am ill, (26:81) Who will cause me to die and then will give me life again, (26:82) and of Whom I expect that He will forgive me my errors on the Day of Judgment."

Cures-Salah Salah -Al-Imam Ahmed recorded a hadith saying that the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, used to say: "The delight and pleasure of my eyes is in the salah“ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. (2:153)

Remembrance (zikr) The remembrance (zikr) of Allah alone and the company of believers. الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُمْ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ 13:28 “Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.” And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, ….(17:82)

Hadith in Sahih Muslim: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah also has angels who travel about seeking out gatherings of dhikr. When they find a gathering in which there is dhikr, they sit with them and cover one another with their wings until they fill up the space between them and the lowest heaven. When they separate, they rise and ascend to the heaven. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic - and He knows best - asks them, 'Where did you come from?' They say, 'We came from some of Your slaves in the earth who were glorifying You, proclaiming Your greatness, saying, 'There is no god but Allah,' praising You and supplicating You.' He said, 'What are they asking Me for?' They say, 'They are asking You for Your Garden.' He said, 'Have they seen My Garden?'

They say, 'No, O Lord.' He says, 'How would it be if they were to see My Garden?' They say, 'They are seeking Your protection.' They say, 'From Your Fire, O Lord.' He says, 'Have they seen My Fire?' They say, 'No.' He says, 'How would it be if they were to see My Fire?' They say, 'And they are asking Your forgiveness.' He says, 'I have forgiven them and given them what they ask and I have granted them protection from what they seek protection from.' They say, 'O Lord, a certain slave is among them who just happened to be passing and sat down with them.' He says, 'I have forgiven him. They are such people that the one who sits with them will not be disappointed.'“ But Shaitaan does not want us to go to these gatherings.

Supplication-Dua Dua helps in alleviating the difficulties that have passed and those that have not descended yet. And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible. (Ghafir:60) But Shaitaan says that you are so sinful Allah will not listen.

Recitation of the Quran Recite the Quran aloud Listen to the recitation of the Quran As soon as you feel the symptoms of depression coming up immerse yourself by reading it aloud or listening to its recitation for at least 15 minutes

Be Productive Look for opportunities to do good And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer - those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged, [even as much as] the speck on a date seed. (2:124) The Prophet said, “Make the orphan come close to you and, and be nice to him and wipe his head and feed him from your food. That will cause your heart to be soft, and your needs to be fulfilled.” (At-Tabarani)

From the Life of the Prophets Many of us turn to venting or complaining to others when we are faced with a hardship, but when we look in the Qur’an, we see that the believers complain only to Allah. Ya’qub (alayhi salaam) says to his sons when they bring the news that his son was accused of stealing, “So patience is most fitting (for me).” (12:83) But then in the next ayah, Allah describes that he turned away from them and said privately, “Alas, my grief for Yusuf!” And he lost his sight because of the sorrow that he was suppressing.” (12:84) Ya’qub (alayhi salaam) did not say this in front of his family, but it was between himself and Allah. Allah says that he was “suppressing” (in Arabic: kadheem) and this means when someone holds their breath back to control their tears and their agony.

Maryam the Choosen Woman When Maryam was delivering her son all alone, she said, “Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!” (19:23) The tafseer mentions that Maryam (alayha salaam) was not only in physical pain and solitude, but also experiencing the pain of ostracism and isolation that occurs when you are telling the truth but no one believes you. She spoke these words at a time when she had already been given the good news of being chosen above all women and that her son would be a Prophet of Allah. This reminds us that even the best people, whom Allah has clearly chosen, are still human

Be not sad …have sabr Sabr (patience) does not mean that you are happy with the decree of Allah, sabr (patience) means that you accept the decree of Allah even if you don’t understand it.

Duas from the Prophet اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ الْهَمِّ وَالْحُزْنِ وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْبُخْلِ وَالْجُبْنِ وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ Allahumma inni a’udhu bika minal-hammi wal- Ḥ uzni wal-’ajazi wal-kasli wal-bukhli wal-jubni wa ḍ ala’id- dayni waghalabatir-rijal. O Allah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men.

Duas from the Prophet اللَّهُمَّ رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو فَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَا أَنْتَ Allahumma rahmataka arju fala takilni ila nafsi tarfata ‘aynin wa aslih li sha’ni kullahu la ilaha ila anta O Allah, it is Your mercy that I hope for, so do not leave me in charge of my affairs even for a blink of an eye, and rectify for me all of my affairs. None has the right to be worshiped except You.

References supplication-series-distress-sadness-and-anxiety-2/ supplication-series-distress-sadness-and-anxiety-2/ em.htm em.htm 47.aspx 47.aspx Weapon%20Of%20The%20Believer.pdf Weapon%20Of%20The%20Believer.pdf