Just A Positive Thought.... By Annie

This is my first piece of work and it is inspired by a video which I watched a couple of days back which was based on depression. Firstly there is a dire need to understand the difference between depression and stress. Depression is a major psychological disorder while stress is a temporary condition in which when the stressor vanishes so does the stress. But to be very precise if one feels stressful and melancholy for more than 6 months then it can be diagnosed as depression.

Depression and stress were the terms about which the previous generations were not quite aware of because it was rare. But now it is haunting us all, to some extent. Reasons for depression and stress can be many, but when we talk about reasons related to one’s life events it becomes evident that we think that our problems are bigger than our creator ALLAH! There is a complete absence of Faith in Him.
We forget that He is the one who created us; Wasif Ali Wasif a renowned Sufi said “Fortunate is the person who remains happy with his fortune”

Being stressful over a particular problem is normal; we become frustrated and angry and try to often deal with it through displacement. We yell at people, hurt them and sometimes even hit them just because we are having a problem and we are frustrated over it so we try to displace our emotions towards other people. But when other people do same with us we start judging them and hurt them back instead of understanding their situation. We all are pretty same from inside, we feel similar emotions but only the way to express them is different. World would be a lot kinder place if we acknowledge that other people are also human beings just like us. Before reacting to any person or situation we should think twice that what if I was in his/her place? What would my reaction have been?

Today we hate other people, disgrace them, judge them, insult them and criticize them just because they are not like “us” - the most perfect being. Every person has good and bad habits, in order to love others one has to appreciate the good in others. It is said that if a person has 100 bad habits and one good habit, only his one good habit should be discussed with others.

In Islam backbiting is strictly forbidden, Quran says ... Nor backbite one another; would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it (Qur'an 49:12). God loves His creation, He does not want His people to fight with one another, and in my view purpose of prohibiting backbiting is to spread love among people. We all should learn to respect our differences. All the negative emotions lead to stress and depression like disorders. Contentment with our lives is the basic thing we all need to learn. If someone has a better car then you might get jealous and start complaining about it. But what if a person with a better car envies your educational degree? God has done justice to every single person; we are the one who are discontented. We forget about our comforts and take them for granted and whine about things that we don’t have. Enjoy your own life without comparing it with others. I believe contentment is the secret to a healthier and a happier life. 

Writer has Scored Hons. Degree in Psychology
From Kinnaird College  Lhr. Pakistan