Muslim psychologists and psychiatrists recently published an eye-opening book titled Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care. I had learned about Dr. Rania Awaad and her work in mental health at a talk hosted by Salaam Islamic Center. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Director of the Muslim Mental Health Lab. Discussing how traditional Islamic texts meet with the modern disciplines of psychology and psychiatry, Dr. Awaad uses the “biopsychosocial” approach; she claims that psychology, mental health, spirituality, and religion cannot be separated. As someone who shares the same understanding, I was deeply impressed with her and her team’s clinical treatment methods and their new book. It is a book about introducing Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP), which is the culminating result of the Khalil Center’s research.

I attach importance to this book because I truly believe in the power of holistic approaches to healing. I am also involved in the Association for Psychological and Spiritual Sciences (APSS), which is similar to the Khalil Center because it also encourages psychologists, psychiatrists, students of medicine, theologians, and researchers of human sciences to discuss and conduct studies to solve many problems of individuals and societies. Additionally, the APSS mirrors the Khalil Center due to its similar work of analyzing conceptual religious and spiritual sources of oriental history with an emphasis on Sufism. Thus, predominantly Islamic sources are discussed to develop universally applicable theories, concepts, and therapeutic strategies.

Two halves of a coin

The recently published book, Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care, is built upon three profound principles. First, researchers combed through traditional and foundational Islamic texts, such as the holy Qur’an, sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith), actions of the Prophet (sunnah), and other general Islamic guidelines for spiritual and material well-being. Then, this well-established and prosperous literature review was evaluated, and then combined, with modern psychology. Last but not least, practical methods were then synthesized by using traditional Islamic literature in the psychology field and current modern psychotherapy techniques.

The book delivers a detailed and lucid account of the differences between the approaches utilized by modern psychiatry and the TIIP. Contemporary psychiatry is largely based upon “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders” (DSM) and “The International Classification of Disorders,” (ICD) which are used for diagnosing mental disorders. The TIIP utilizes these texts and the vast amount of clinical research that they possess, but on the other hand it also takes the Qur’an, hadith, sunnah, and other Islamic spiritual traditions into consideration. The critical difference in between the two is that the TIIP advocates for a more holistic approach to mental health that includes a person’s spiritual well-being, while modern psychiatry does not consider a person’s spiritual pathological character in order for them to require clinical treatment. 

The TIIP’s perspective is that the concept of health and pathology cannot be adequately addressed with current clinical diagnoses. According to Islam, proper psycho-spiritual health is heavily associated with each person achieving a strong understanding of their own unique ethereal purpose, and the proper treatments for gaining and maintaining psycho-spiritual health can be achieved through training. For instance, a person that suffers from an abundance of arrogance, which negatively affects various aspects of their life, does not require modern psychiatric clinical treatment. Since arrogance is mentioned as a spiritual disease in Islamic sources, a TIIP practitioner addresses this condition with a psycho-spiritual integrative approach.

The APSS explains this concept in more detail by arguing that the human being is a vast, profound, and complicated creation that longs for a sense of eternity, permanence, understanding behind creation and life, and connection to one’s Creator. Spiritual health is seen to be equally important as one’s physical and mental health since neglecting one’s spiritual health can have adverse consequences upon many facets of a person’s life. Thus, eternal satisfaction may be gained via spiritual contentment. 

Furthermore, these techniques are not exclusive only to Muslims despite their backing in Islamic theology; they could be applied to non-religious and religious individuals alike, regardless of their belief system, since Islam aims to take a holistic look at life in a way that everyone can relate to in some form.

Our “inner senses” cannot be ignored

Humans have external senses and internal senses. External senses include sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and we communicate with the external world via these senses. On the other hand, internal senses are spiritual senses and are used to communicate with the inner world. They include metaphysical concepts such as the spiritual heart (qalb), soul (ruh), and different modes of cognition (sır), (hafi), and (ahfa), and much more. They are the separate depth of the heart. Humans have a wide range of uses for internal dynamics and mechanisms, and our internal and external senses should work together like two wings on a bird. Just like how we take vitamins to strengthen our physical body, we strengthen our spiritual “body” by honing our inner senses.

All of the chapters of the book are very intriguing, and it has a compelling and inspiring effect on readers to understand and apply TIIP practices. For instance, the whole chapter about “Intellect” and its methodization in Islamic Psychotherapy is remarkable. One of the most impressive indications is that the word “intellect,” which is mentioned about 50 times in the Qur’an and across various hadiths, is referred to the link between intellect and well-being. Thus, the importance of the mind is explained through a different lens. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at our thoughts, feelings, and the roles that they have when it comes to how they affect our behavior. There is a direct correlation in between our thoughts, emotional health, mental wellbeing, and then our actions. The book refers to the writings of Islamic philosopher, jurist, and mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and his modality in Islamic literature. Al-Ghazali offered to implement interventions among stages by addressing faulty thoughts, negative feelings, and actions. For instance, the Islamic ablution, which is often performed once before each of the five daily prayers, is given as an example during two of the stages. Those interventions would help change the focus on faulty thought and shift the state of emotion.

While the TIIP discusses the intellect it also includes three stages of “self” (nafs); the evil commanding lower self and the animalistic impulses (nafs ammarah), self-criticizing blaming stages (nafs lawwamah), and tranquil stage (nafs mutma’innah). These stages are interpreted as the spiritual elevation of the human spirit. A TIIP practitioner aims to achieve a tranquil stage for the client. TIIP gradually works with cognitive science by identifying and challenging a person’s faulty thought and then reconstructing situations, thoughts, and feelings. 

The seven stages of thought progression

In addition to the book’s description of intellect, the APSS mentions seven stages of the mind’s metacognitive dimensions and functioning system that are important information processing steps.

The first one is “imagination” (tahayyul); in this stage, false thoughts occur. The mind starts overreacting by imagining false thoughts, such as worrying about getting sick due to Covid-19 even if a person is self-quarantined and has almost no chance of getting it. In this phase, negative thoughts and apprehension happen. Then, the “envisage” (tasawwur) stage comes. Thoughts are conceptualized and shaped in this stage. An individual could start believing, or perhaps even convince themselves, that they have contracted the virus if they are constantly being exposed to negative news surrounding it. When both the imagination and envisage phases activate then thoughts start to attack an individual’s inner world. Toxic thoughts can begin entering the brain and can wreak havoc on a person in the form of abnormal behavior, anxiety, stress, and obsessive thoughts.

The fourth stage is “comprehending” (ta’aqqul), which also assess our thoughts with the goal of more clearly understanding them. Then, the “approval” (tasdiq) stage comes, and in this stage individuals understand and confirm positive thoughts in their heart. The next stage is foresight (iz’an) which starts where individuals begin to understand themselves very well and act according to their understanding. Next is favoring (iltizam). The last stage is faith (i’tikad), which involves having sincere belief, firmness, and not hesitating to act upon what a person believes to be right. The first two stages, imagination and envisage, compose the thought process and the outcomes of this process. To change faulty thoughts, individuals need to consciously intervene upon the first and second steps by “getting rid of habits.” Directly attacking the source of these negative thoughts allows a person to begin to change their faulty thinking processes. One should start with staying abstinent from being exposed to too much unhelpful information. Habits always need to be replaced in order to fill the void that is consequently made, and it is therefore recommended to engage in otherwise beneficial activities, such as reading the holy book, praying, spending time outside, engaging with people that bring joy and positive emotions, or pursuing a subject or hobby of interest.

Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care: Introducing TIIP qualifies as a bedside book that every professional working with the Muslim population should read. The book structurally clarifies and demonstrates how Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy is utilized in therapy by discussing an overview of modern psychology and the traditional Islamic bibliography. Case examples are spectacularly and elaborately explained. After reading the whole concept and its case studies, readers will find answers to their questions. Whether the readers are an emotionally focused therapist, a cognitive-behavioral therapist, a behavioral therapist, or a spiritual therapy practitioner, they will benefit from this book. The book covers all four approaches under the “Treatment of the Domains of the Human Psyche” part. Therapeutic interventions can be practically implemented.

Is it why we cannot attain maximum mental performance?

If you are one of those people who are unsatisfied with their foreign language competence after many years of hard work, practice, and exposure, then this article may be for you. Even though research in foreign language learning enumerates several factors for foreign language failure – social, psychological, cognitive and affective – whose roles cannot be overlooked, my own view is somewhat different: I firmly believe that one of the main reasons why so many people cannot attain maximum performance, not only in foreign languages but also in other subjects, is largely because of “mental pollution.” This is why, I think, children are superior to adults at learning foreign languages, for they are devoid of severe mental pollution.

Let me first clarify what I mean by “mental pollution.” Certain images of different sizes, qualities, and shapes displayed on billboards, shop windows, posters, brochures, magazines, ads, TV, movies, videos, websites – these are mental pollution. Depending on their form and characteristic, they may greatly abuse a person’s mental energy and lead to chaotic and disturbing emotions. The more irrelevant, enticing, or lustful images are, the more detrimental they are to our social and academic life. For example, a small logo of a computer game – perhaps the size of a 5 cent coin – such as the dragon from Mortal Kombat, contains at minimum three kilobytes (3072 characters), which is equal to about 400 English words. Despite the premise that we only use 8-10 percent of our mental capacity, the amount of visual data the human brain is permanently exposed to cannot be underestimated when so many people, especially children, watch TV, play computer games, and surf the internet. Obscene pictures, in particular, are a common form of mental pollution nowadays, and they are some of the most deleterious to the human mind; they drastically increase blood pressure and heart rate and thus weaken the memory. As an example, a study by Brad J. Bushman has apparently revealed that watching violent television programs has adverse effects on one’s ability to remember.

Fethullah Gülen, a renowned modern Islamic intellectual, reminds us of the seriousness of the topic, while more people than ever before complain about forgetfulness and memory weakness. According to Gülen, the process of learning now takes longer than in the past, and forgetfulness, like an infection, has become prevalent among all levels of society due to polluted minds teeming with irrelevant information. He also points out that long ago people complained when they were not able to memorize and recite by heart a page after only one reading. In this day and age, people complain about weak memory and confess that they have great difficulty memorizing a short text that they have read more than 20 times. For a keen memory, his message to the present generation is to stay away from useless routines, frivolous conversations, irrelevant knowledge, and sources of obscenity.

Similar to a computer, the untrained human mind whose protection filter is set to a low level is under constant visual attack. Given this, mental pollution acts like a computer virus, a code that replicates by copying itself to another program, document, or e-mail, thereby seriously slowing down memory operations. Also, it can erase data or damage the computer’s hard disk, which is analogous to long-term memory in the human brain. Interestingly enough, lab experiments on rats have revealed that these animals simply choose to starve to death when they are tempted by brain reward-stimulus circuits in quests for neuro-orgasms. These rats rarely attain balanced brain chemistry, while the orgasm they experience results in a hangover that lasts for weeks. The same condition is also true for the human mind: the unnecessary over-discharge of hormones triggered by electrifying visual stimuli can lead to long-lasting forgetfulness, fatigue, and serious concentration problems. In such a case, a person cannot make sense of whatever he is studying until the side effects of mental pollution are over.

Foreign language learning also substantially suffers from the harmful effects of copious amounts of mental pollution. The modern methodology and technology to facilitate foreign language learning can be hampered by overwhelming exposure to mental pollution. Although they did not have the contemporary language learning resources and facilities, many early scholars and polyglots managed to learn numerous foreign languages. For instance, Guiseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, an Italian cardinal and famed linguist, is believed to have spoken 38 languages and 50 dialects fluently. Similarly, Sir John Bowring (100), Emil Krebs (68), Ziad Youssef Fazah (56), Ali Ufki (16), Muhammad Hamidullah (22), Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (13), Jose Rizal (22), and Sir Richard Francis Burton (29) were able to speak and read in many languages and dialects, as shown in parentheses, and their success is considerably astonishing when we compare them to present academics who have problems at mastering only one foreign language despite the available modern resources. I believe that these past scholars and polyglots, besides their talent and enthusiasm, did not suffer from widespread mental pollution as we do today. For example, the polyglot Mezzofanti was a prodigy in languages mostly because he spent his life in a monastery and therefore was not subject to any form of mental pollution that could preoccupy his mind and weaken his memory.

I am greatly convinced that an oft-overlooked but very serious barrier – mental pollution – which is very common among people, is a crucial reason for many people’s failure to learn a foreign language, among other subjects. In any discipline (academic or non-academic) where memory involvement is important, it is necessary to be aware of mental pollution. As long as we are unable to control our contact with mental pollution, learning new material will be very difficult and time-consuming, no matter how hard we try, and forgetfulness will continue to be unavoidable.

Nooriye is a 39-year-old Iraqi female. She had a pretty normal life until a group of terrorists knocked on her door. Her two sons were killed in front of her. She was abused and tortured for days, as was her husband. Rebels eventually took her husband and left. Some neighbors helped her to bury her sons and provided her with shelter and food. She was about to kill herself when, miraculously, her husband came back 57 days later. He never told her what he went through during those 57 days. They were both in extreme pain but able to hold onto each other.

They immigrated to the U.S. a year later. Her husband found a job and is still working. They are safe now, but it has not been enough to heal them. Both still have nightmares and flashbacks. She spends all her time in her home. She stares at walls, feels numb and very fearful, and cries every day. Her speech is sparse, and she never smiles. She goes out with husband once a day but grabs his hand and won’t let him go when they are out. When faced with stress, she often passes out.

Her husband “has to be strong because she is the only thing he has,” although he also has extreme pain. He hides his tears from his wife, is unable to sleep at night, feels guilty, and misses his sons. He is afraid to make any Iraqi friends and stays away from mosques.

Obviously, providing a safe place, food, and a job is not enough to heal these people’s pain. Invisible wounds and problems are much harder to treat than visible ones.

In this article we will try to elucidate some elements of what Nooriye and thousands of other families have been exposed to all around the world.

Mass trauma

When a group of people, regardless of size, experience psychological effects after a trauma that was suffered collectively, this is called a mass trauma. Sometimes an entire society witnesses the same trauma, and this may cause a collective sentiment, often resulting in a shift in that society’s culture and mass actions.^1,2

Wars, political violence, natural disasters, exile, torture, and terrorism are examples of mass trauma. The Holocaust, the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, slavery in the United States, and the 9/11 attacks are well-known collective traumas.

Collective traumas have been shown to play a key role in group identity formation. Having the same problems, suffering from the same pain, and being under the same pressures bring individuals together. This togetherness eventually helps to build a community, a group, and sometimes a nation. Almost every nation has traumatic events in their history. Even the concept of “nation” is extensively affected by these events.

Nevertheless, despite its role in building group identity, mass trauma is still individually painful. In fact, the effects of mass trauma can be very deep and transferred through the generations. In 1966, clinicians observed that large numbers of children of Holocaust survivors were seeking treatment in psychiatric clinics in Canada. Moreover, when compared to the general population, the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors were three times more likely to seek clinical psychiatric help.³

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

According to the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, the most common stress reactions in the wake of disaster may include the following:

Emotional reactions, including shock, fear, grief, anger, guilt, shame, feeling helpless, feeling numb, and sadness.

Cognitive reactions, including confusion, indecisiveness, worrying, shortened attention span, and trouble concentrating.

Physical reactions, including tension, fatigue, edginess, insomnia, bodily aches and pains, startling easily, racing heartbeat, nausea, change in appetite, and changes in other bodily desires.

Interpersonal reactions, including distrust, conflict, withdrawal, work or school problems, irritability, loss of intimacy, and feeling rejected or abandoned.⁴

Several factors present in the acute-phase recovery environment of a disaster have been found to aggravate stress reactions and therefore increase survivors’ risk of developing negative outcomes. These include:

• Lack of emotional and social support
• Presence of other stressors such as fatigue, cold, hunger, fear, uncertainty, loss, dislocation, and other psychologically stressful experiences
• Difficulties at the scene
• Lack of information about the nature and reasons for the event
• Lack of, or interference with, self-determination and self-management
• Treatment [given] in an authoritarian or impersonal manner
• Lack of follow-up support in the weeks following the exposure

Protective factors that may mitigate negative effects include:

• Social support
• Higher income and education
• Successful mastery of past disasters and traumatic events
• Limitation or reduction of exposure to any of the aggravating factors listed above
• Provision of information about expectations and availability of recovery services
• Care, concern and understanding on the part of the recovery services personnel
• Provision of regular and appropriate information concerning the emergency and reasons for action.⁵

In most cases, the symptoms of trauma eventually disappear, but unfortunately, some of the survivors of the mass trauma will eventually develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental disorder resulting from exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor.

The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), conducted between February 2001 and April 2003 in the U.S., estimated the lifetime prevalence of PTSD among adult Americans to be 6.8%.⁶ The lifetime prevalence of PTSD among men was found to be 3.6% and among women 9.7%. ⁷

PTSD is described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (DSM 5) which is published by the American Psychiatric Association, as:

Criterion A (at least one required): The person was exposed to: death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, in the following way(s):

• Direct exposure
• Witnessing the trauma
• Learning that a relative or close friend was exposed to a trauma
• Indirect exposure to aversive details of the trauma, usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, medics)

Criterion B (at least one required): The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced, in the following way(s):

• Intrusive thoughts
• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Emotional distress after exposure to traumatic reminders
• Physical reactivity after exposure to traumatic reminders

Criterion C (at least one required): Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli after the trauma, in the following way(s):

• Trauma-related thoughts or feelings
• Trauma-related reminders

Criterion D (at least two required): Negative thoughts or feelings that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

• Inability to recall key features of the trauma
• Overly negative thoughts and assumptions about oneself or the world
• Exaggerated blame of self or others for causing the trauma
• Negative affect
• Decreased interest in activities
• Feeling isolated
• Difficulty experiencing positive affect

Criterion E (two required): Trauma-related arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):

• Irritability or aggression
• Risky or destructive behavior
• Hypervigilance
• Heightened startle reaction
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty sleeping

Criterion F (required): Symptoms last for more than 1 month.

Criterion G (required): Symptoms create distress or functional impairment (e.g., social, occupational).

Criterion H (required): Symptoms are not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.⁸

Treatment for mass trauma:

Treatment for mass trauma should be delivered at two different levels: the community level and the individual level.

1. Community level:

Dr. Frantz Omar Fanon gives the recipe for mass trauma treatment at the community level: “Mass trauma can be alleviated through cohesive and collective efforts such as recognition, remembrance, solidarity, communal therapy and massive cooperation.”

The statement above can be a topic for a separate article. Here, we would like to express the importance of the remembrance days. People comes together on remembrance days and remind the victims that they are not alone and not forgotten. This can be therapeutic for the victims and alleviate their pain.

2. Individual level

PTSD treatment includes pharmacotherapy (medical treatment) and psychotherapy. Some of the medications which have been helpful combatting depression are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Fluoxetine (Prozac), Sertraline (Zoloft), Paroxetine (Paxil), and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as Venlafaxine (Effexor) and Duloxetine (Cymbalta).

There are several therapy types that have been shown to be effective at treating PTSD. Trauma-focused psychotherapies are the most highly recommended psychotherapies for PTSD. In these therapy types the treatment focuses on the memory of the traumatic event or its meaning. These treatments use different techniques to help a victim process their traumatic experience. Some involve visualizing, talking, or thinking about the traumatic memory. Others focus on changing unhelpful beliefs about the trauma. Prolonged exposure therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy, and Narrative Exposure Therapy are the some of the therapies that have been found to be helpful for PTSD patients.

Additionally, spirituality might help treat PTSD, too. A study of Bosnia-Herzegovina war veterans suggested that veterans who prayed had significantly higher levels of incorporation, self-protection, and reactive formation and significantly lower levels of regression, compensation, transferring, lack of control, and aggressiveness than their peers who did not pray. ⁹

In brief, providing shelter, food, and a safe environment are mandatory for trauma patients, but they aren’t nearly enough. Psychological traumas are very hard to treat, and treatment may take years. It has been shown that soldiers who have somebody to share their war experience/trauma with, have a lower risk for PTSD when compared with the ones who can’t talk to anybody. Victims need professional help along with community support. Trauma can be alleviated through cohesive and collective efforts and cooperation. Praying for the trauma victims, as politicians suggested for recent hurricane victims, definitely has some social impact. It has also been shown that medication/prayers decrease PTSD symptoms ¹⁰; however, showing support and empathy, listening to victims, and acts of remembrance are the other key elements of community support.

References

1. Lisa Gale Garrigues, “Slave and Slave Holders Break Free of History’s Trauma“, Yes Magazine, August 2, 2013
2. Updegraff, Silvler, Holman, “Searching for and Finding Meaning in Collective Trauma, Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, September 2008
3. Coffey, R. (1998). Unspeakable truths and happy endings. Sidran Press. ISBN1-886968-05-5
4. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/handouts-pdf/Reactions.pdf
5. NSW Institute of Psychiatry and Centre for Mental Health. (2000). Disaster Mental Health Response Handbook.North Sydney: NSW Health.
6. Kessler, R.C., Berglund, P., Delmer, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K.R., & Walters, E.E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6): 593-602.
7. National Comorbidity Survey. (2005). NCS-R appendix tables: Table 1. Lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV/WMH-CIDI disorders by sex and cohort. Table 2. Twelve-month prevalence of DSM-IV/WMH-CIDI disorders by sex and cohort. Accessed at: http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/publications.php
8. American Psychiatric Association. (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, (5th ed.). Washington, DC.
9. Pajević I, Sinanović O, Hasanović M. Association of Islamic Prayer with Psychological Stability in Bosnian War Veterans. J Relig Health. 2017 Dec;56(6):2317-2329. doi: 10.1007/s10943-017-0431-z.
10. Gallegos AM, Crean HF, Pigeon WR, Heffner KL. Meditationand yoga for posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017 Dec; 58:115-124. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.004.

Over time, the pressures that accumulate from our commitments and responsibilities can affect our mental health. Through prolonged periods of stress, cortisol and adrenaline poison our body, which can lead to anxiety disorders. To maintain our emotional and mental health, we must consider the state of our spirituality and be mindful of the metaphysical aura which is in continuous interaction with our physical body.

Our cardiovascular system meticulously delivers oxygen and nutrients to body tissues and in turn removes carbon dioxide and waste products. The average rate of contraction is 75 beats per minute, meaning that a human heart contracts 108,000 times a day, more than 39 million times in one year, and nearly 3 billion times during a 75-year lifespan. However, this magnificent center of our being is not only related to our physical, but also our spiritual, well-being. The blood that our heart pumps contains more than just oxygen and nutrients for the body. It acts as both a radiator of goodness from the spirit (ruh) and evil from our carnality (nafs). The Arabic language has eight different translations for the word “soul,” with each of them accounting for a different element of the soul, including the heart, reinforcing the link between the physical and metaphysical.

Basic cardiovascular physiology denotes that deoxygenated blood returns to the right ventricle, which pumps it into the pulmonary trunk and then to the lungs, where carbon dioxide is released and oxygen is absorbed. Oxygenated blood then travels back to the left side of the heart into the left atrium, then into the left ventricle from where it is pumped into the aorta and subsequently the arterial circulation.

Based on this circulatory system, one may speculate about an interaction between our heart and soul. The right ventricle, where our deoxygenated or “dirty blood” returns, might be the location point of our evil-commanding carnal soul or nafs-al ammara. In contrast, the left ventricle, which pumps clean, oxygenated blood, might be the locus of the presence of our spirit (ruh). Thus, one can think of the heart as a tool of the soul, and the soul as a mirror of the heart [1]. If the mirror is kept clean, one can see. If it is dirty, then we are blinded. In this way, the state of the heart affects the soul; the two are in a directly proportional relationship.

Long before the advancement of modern psychology, emotional and mental well-being were highlighted in the Qur’an. The verse “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein,” (50:16) is a perfect example of the spiritual psychology that is immanent throughout the Qur’an. Not only does it demonstrate the proximity of God to His servants at times of inner turmoil, but it also sheds light on the notion of delusion, or whisperings of the heart (waswasa), and that He is aware and understanding of moods of doubt.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also refers to the relationship between the heart and soul: “Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be sound, all the body is sound and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart” (Bukhari). This hadith refers to the close relationship between the bodily organs and the subtle psychic organs of the human soul; the spiritual heart is the center of human consciousness and is interrelated to the bodily, physical heart.

Our conscience, or mind, must acknowledge and make sense of all the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise. Muslim scholars describe possible sources for inner voices to be God, the angels, the devil, and the physiological body [2, 3]. With the appropriate depth of perception, self-regulation and spiritual expertise, one can distinguish between them. While waswasa has a negative connotation and usually refers to the whisperings from the devil and our nafs, we can also receive sources of inspiration from other metaphysical beings such as angels [4]. The mind’s ability to see the world through patterns and metaphors are the workings of the heart, and a gift from God to help us see the meaningful connections in life and to learn by reflecting upon experience. In this way, mindfulness provides an innovative approach to treat mental health issues. By having awareness and a clear comprehension, one can pay attention with patience and care to what happens and try to resolve it accordingly.

It is an understatement to say that we have an incredibly complex and dynamic aura, where the interaction of the metaphysical and physical matter that make up the human body are continually interacting. We’re constantly receiving input from other existing beings around us. There are mechanisms of action we can adopt to make a protective shield against these forces, some of which can have a negative impact on our soul.

The most obvious constituent of this shield is being immaculate in performing prescribed worships. These “must-do’s” are a reference point for us. If we slack off in our worship, our protective shield against waswasa is inevitably weakened. The ablutions we take throughout the day, even before we sleep, are another protective mechanism, while in the remembrance of God (dhikr), our hearts will “find tranquility and satisfaction” (13:28). However, even saints have lamented over periods of “dark nights” when the believer is tested by God who, for a short period, withholds from the devotee all delight in prayer and worship. Sufis describe this state of the soul as qabd, literally meaning being grasped by hand. This causes distress and makes one suffer from spiritual blockage. On the other hand, the soul can also reach a state of bast, or openness, expansion, development, or relief, when one is freed from spiritual blockage and develops inwardly. Thus, “God contracts and expands” (2:245) and believers must make both of these states fruitful by being thankful during openness and seeing contraction as an effective remedy for the sickness of the soul.

Trying to solve psychological problems solely with spiritual therapies is a mistake. Mainstream, pharmacological therapy can be necessary, just like in physiological disease. We rarely hesitate to see a doctor when we have an allergic reaction or the flu, but a psychological disease is assumed to be resolved through worship. While prayer is an incredibly powerful metaphysical tool that eases and lessens mental health problems, it might not be enough to completely cure a person of their condition. Psychological problems can be considered a cancer of the soul and should be treated with the appropriate therapy – that is, professionally. While prayer will undoubtedly have an anesthetic effect on the patient, going to see a psychologist would be the active prayer. Only then can you leave the outcome to God, after having done your part of fulfilling both verbal and active prayer.

As Imam al-Ghazali said, “Knowing the definition of these diseases, their causes and their cures, and remedies to fix them, is personally obligatory on every Muslim” (Al-Majmua). Thus, we are obliged to not only realize what is going on in our hearts and our conscious minds, but also to cure ourselves from any of the diseases that may have a negative impact on our mental or physical health.

Notes

1. Aysel, M.; Yavas I.; Akdag, M. 2016. Ruh ve Psikolojisi. (unpublished draft).
2. Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. 1926, The Words, the Second Station of the Twenty-First Word.
3. Gülen, Fethullah. 2008. Varligin Metafizik Boyutu, Istanbul, 2008, pp. 322-336.
4. Aysel, M. 2018. “The Dynamic Vesvese Model,” Association for Psychological and Spiritual Sciences. (unpublished draft).

Evil and violence have always been a part of the human story. While every individual has both angelic and devilish aspects, many of the most violent atrocities have been committed by powerful authority figures who have been consumed by paranoia. The lead article in this issue lists a number of past dictators and tyrants who, driven by irrational fear, persecuted people on baseless grounds. The example of the Pharaoh who feared the baby Moses (pbuh) because of a dream is not only a past story, but sadly a historical reality that keeps repeating itself. Pharaohs keep coming back with different names, in different outfits, but with the same mental and spiritual disorder of paranoia. Sadly, these individuals never come alone: they always have supporters who ensure they remain in power. This network of sycophants and cronies have benefitted from their proximity to power. The lead article suggests persecuted believers should pray and pursue spiritual growth by full submission to the will of the Almighty.

There are two pieces in this issue that offer solutions to mental health problems, like paranoia. Asli Uzun draws a connection between our biological heart and spirit. Uzun speaks of how we seek equilibrium by balancing the whisperings of the heart with consistent worship and remembrance of the Divine. She does not forget to mention that alongside spiritual therapies, one should also seek professional support from pharmacologists and psychologists.

The second piece is from Mehmed Gokcel, who puts in words the voice of any human being not free from sin and its discomforts. This predicament becomes even more difficult for immigrants, Gokcel emphasizes, who usually have to grow up in societies that “have different moral norms to that of their cultural upbringing.” The author defines sin, and how repentance is different for a regular person and for spiritually elevated ones, while underscoring the importance of “diversifying [your] relationship with God” through contemplation of His creation.

Ahmet Kurucan’s “Dialogue with the Qur’an” offers a perspective for both Muslims and non-Muslims on how to approach the Divine message. For Kurucan, “The verses of the Holy Qur’an are not detached from the social realities experienced between 610 and 632 in Mecca and Medina. … Severing this correlative link between God and the community of revelation is the foremost reason for triggering what may be called the alienation from the Qur’an.” And this is one major reason why Islam is unfairly associated with violence.

Alzheimer’s disease is “an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks” according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s affects mostly senior citizens, and symptoms first appear in most people between 60 and 70. The first signs of Alzheimer’s, though, can be noticed between the ages of 30 and 65. However, it is very rare for younger people to exhibit symptoms. Most cases of dementia are caused by Alzheimer’s disease [1]. It is known that all Alzheimer’s patients have dementia; however, one cannot say that all dementia patients have Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a deadly disease, finishing predictably in death [2].

Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. In the early twentieth century (1906), Dr. Alzheimer observed alterations in the brain tissue of a woman who had expired of an uncommon mental disease. Her signs involved loss of memory, language difficulties, and erratic conduct. After her death, Dr. Alzheimer inspected her brain and discovered many uncharacteristic clusters (now called amyloid plaques) and scrambled packets of filaments (now called neurofibrillary, or tau, tangles) [1].

Based on his findings, he correctly theorized that these anomalous buildups were accountable for the patient’s loss of memory and other mental complications.

The plaques and tangles in the brain are some of the foremost characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease. Another characteristic is the damage of contacts between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. Neurons conduct communications between different segments of the brain – for example, they conduct communications from the brain to muscles and organs in the body. Many other multifaceted brain alterations are thought to play a function in Alzheimer’s disease.

In the beginning, this impairment seems to take place in the hippocampus of the brain. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is indispensable in forming memories. When neurons perish, further parts of the brain are distressed. In the last stage of Alzheimer’s, destruction is extensive, and brain tissue has shortened substantially.

How many Americans have Alzheimer’s disease?

It is estimated   that more than 5 million Americans may have Alzheimer’s disease. If existing population developments continue, the number of people with AD will increase significantly. However, this trend can be stopped if the disease can be effectively treated or prevented.

The reasons people develop Alzheimer’s are still not fully understood. One known reason is aging.   Age is the most significant accepted risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. In 2010, in the United States, close to 5 million people 65 years and older were living with Alzheimer’s illness. A 2013 report from the Alzheimer’s Association suggests that 1/10^th of all Americans over 65 are suffering from Alzheimer’s. The proportion goes up to about a third of the population for those who are over 85. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, AD incidence is between 60% and 80% of all incidents of dementia [3].

Incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in South Asia

Globally, at least 44 million individuals live with dementia, making the disease a worldwide health catastrophe that must be tackled. In excess of 4 million individuals have some appearance of dementia in India [4].

In the Southern Indian state of Kerala, 1066 qualified members who were cognitively regular at reference, 104 of them acquired dementia (98 of them were found to have AD) over a continuation time of 8.1 years. The occurrence rates per 1000 person-years for AD was 11.67 for persons aged ≥55 years and greater for those aged ≥65 years (15.54). Individuals who were aged ≥65 years, the global age consistent occurrence rate, was 9.19 per 1000 person-years, prevalence rate of AD raised substantially and proportionally with growing age. These are the initial AD occurrence rates to be conveyed from southern India. When compared to reports from rural North India these occurrence rates appear to be much greater. But they are comparable with those reported from China, and slightly lesser than that reported from the western world [5].

Signs of Alzheimer’s disease

Memory difficulties are characteristically one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s; nonetheless, early indications may differ from individual to individual. A decrease in other facets of thinking, for example forgetting words, sight/three-dimensional problems, and diminished thinking or decision making, may additionally indicate the precise initial periods of Alzheimer’s disease. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a disorder that can be an initial mark of Alzheimer’s. However, not everyone with MCI will develop Alzheimer’s.

Patients with Alzheimer’s have difficulty performing routine things like paying bills, driving a car, or cooking food. They repeatedly ask the same questions, go astray without difficulty, misplace things or put them in unusual places, and find even easy things puzzling. As the disease advances, some patients become anxious, wrathful, or furious.

Longevity of a person with Alzheimer’s disease?

At the time of diagnosis, if the person is older than 80, they are only likely to live another three or four years. If the person is younger then 80, they could live for as many as ten years or more.

Currently Alzheimer’s disease is graded as the sixth greatest cause of death in the United States. But fresh evaluations show that the illness may be listed as third, after heart disease and cancer, as a source of death for elderly people.

At the present time, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s. However, treatment can help patients cope with symptoms [1].

In the 21^st century, Alzheimer’s can only be diagnosed with 100 percent precision through a postmortem examination that discloses the occurrence of the distinctive plaques and tangles. However, a complete examination and suitable checkup can afford a dependable diagnosis with better than 90 percent certainty.

Malformed accumulations of particular proteins inside the brain interrupt normal brain performance and produce the reasoning and efficient difficulties characteristically connected with Alzheimer’s Disease. Ultimately, as the sediments expand all over the brain, brain material begins to die. This results in additional intellectual damage. CT scans and MRI scans show the subsequent brain contraction. CT scan shows enlargement of the ventricles in the brain and loss of brain tissue in a patient with Alzheimer’s disease. Recent research is endeavoring to ascertain what produces these accumulations and is watching for techniques to avoid or change them before they cause lasting brain destruction [2].

Alzheimer’s is not curable.
Alzheimer’s is not contagious.
Alzheimer’s is not a natural part of the aging process.
Alzheimer’s is not something you get from using deodorant or cooking in aluminum pans.
Alzheimer’s is not inevitable if you live long enough.

In some families, Alzheimer’s disease is hereditary. But these appearances are very rare, and they account for fewer than five percent of all incidents. If a family member like a mother or a brother has Alzheimer’s disease, it doesn’t inevitably mean that you’re prone to contract it as well.

There is no test that can foretell whether you’ll get Alzheimer’s disease, save tests for the very rare hereditary Alzheimer’s. A blood test can tell whether you have a certain form of cholesterol-carrying protein connected with an elevated occurrence of the disease. This examination can’t convey whether you’ll actually contract the condition; at least 50 percent of people who have an elevated risk factor never get Alzheimer’s.

Taking into consideration medical ethics, healthcare authorities counsel against taking this blood test or undertaking other genetic testing because they want to save their patients from unwarranted fear about something that will perhaps never happen. There are others reasons for which they also advise against testing. If a person has the inherited gene or elevated risk factor, it might negatively affect their ability to acquire health insurance or long-term care.

Causes of AD

All types of dementia are a result of brain cell death. As such, Alzheimer’s Disease is also caused by brain cell death. When there is an ongoing brain cell death occurring over a period of time, then it is called a neurodegenerative disease. When the brain tissue has an increasingly smaller number of nerve cells and connections, then the total brain size shrinks due to Alzheimer’s.

Plaques in the brain are a result of the build-up of a protein called beta-amyloid (also known as “amyloid plaques”). These plaques cannot be seen or tested for in the living brain affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. A postmortem or autopsy will show these plaques and masses. Plaques are found between the dying cells in the brain.

These unusual protein clusters in the brain tissue are always present with Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists are not yet sure if there could be an additional primary activity that is really causing Alzheimer’s Disease. This sort of alteration in brain nerves is also observed in other illnesses. Researchers want to find out how these protein abnormalities progress so that a cure or treatment might be discovered. Researchers have not completely comprehended why the alterations that lead to Alzheimer’s disease befall a patient. It is known that several dissimilar factors are believed to be implicated, aging and a family history of Alzheimer’s, chief among them.

Diagnosis

Alzheimer’s disease is not straightforward to diagnose, as there is no single test for it. The first step physicians take is to rule out other complications before validating whether mental indications and signs are stark enough to be a type of dementia or something else.

Signs and symptoms [6]

Phases of Alzheimer’s Disease:

Aging has effects on memory but not AD.

• Occasionally forgetting things.
• Sometimes items are misplaced.
• Slight temporary memory loss.
• Not recalling precise particulars.

Early phase

• Not recollecting incidences of deprived memory.
• Forgetting names of family or friends.
• Only close friends or relatives may notice the changes.
• Some perplexity in conditions outside the acquainted.

Middle-phase

• Enormous effort recollecting newly acquired knowledge
• Increasing misperception in numerous situations
• Difficulties with slumber or sleep
• Difficulty in recognizing where they are

Late-phase

• Low capability to reason
• Difficulties in talking
• Retelling same dialogues
• Extra rude, nervous, or suspicious

Treatment

For Alzheimer’s there is no recognized treatment. The loss of brain cells cannot be stopped or overturned.

Drug therapy

There are no disease-altering medicines obtainable for Alzheimer’s, but some choices may decrease its symptoms and help recover quality of life. Four drugs are available. They’re called cholinesterase inhibitors. They include Donepezil (brand name Aricept), Rivastigmine (Exelon), and Tacrine (Cognex). Another type of drug, called memantine (Namenda), which is an NMDA receptor antagonist, may also be used. This drug may be used alone or with a cholinesterase inhibitor.

Other therapies

As with other kinds of dementia and neurodegenerative illness, a chief part of therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s comes from the patronage given by healthcare personnel. Quality-of-life care becomes more imperative as needs increase with diminishing freedom [3].

There are other treatments outside the US. In India, Alzheimer’s disease is treated with Ayurveda [7]. Ashwaganda, an ancient Herb used in Ayurveda, is confirmed to be a possible cure for Alzheimer’s [8]. It has also been found that Curcumin (in India it is called Haldi) is more efficient at hindering the formation of the protein fragments than many other potential Alzheimer’s treatments. Optimizing vitamin D and vitamin B12 intake, as well as a nutritious diet rich in folate and coconut oil, have also been tested as to their efficacy at treating Alzheimer’s Disease [9].

Daily mental challenges

Mental stimulation, particularly acquiring something novel, such as learning to play an instrument or a new language, is linked with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. Researchers theorize that mental tasks assist in developing the brain, making it less prone to the lesions connected with Alzheimer’s Disease [8].

References

1. What Is Alzheimer’s Disease? National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-alzheimers-disease
2. Alzheimer’s for Dummies, Patricia B. Smith, Mary M. Kenan, Mark Edwin Kunik, Leeza Gibbons. October 2003. http://www.dummies.com/health/knowing-what-alzheimers-is-and-is-not/

3. What’s to know about Alzheimer’s disease? Medical News Today. Newsletter. 13 February 2018. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php
4. About Alzheimer’s and Dementia. org. India, Alzheimer’s association. https://www.alz.org/in/dementia-alzheimers-en.asp
5. Incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in India: a 10-years follow-up study. Mathuranath PS1, George A, Ranjith N, Justus S, Kumar MS, Menon R, Sarma PS, Verghese J. Neurol India. 2012 Nov-Dec;60(6):625-30 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23287326

6. Alzheimer’s disease. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease
7. Treating Alzheimer’s disease with the help of Ayurveda by Hunila. November 1, 2012 org. http://www.alzheimerindia.org/treating-alzheimers-disease-with-the-help-of-ayurveda/

8. Ashwaganda: Ancient Herb Proven to be a Potential Cure for Alzheimer’s by Dr. Mercola April 07, 2012 https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/04/07/ashwaganda-effect-on-alzheimers-disease.aspx

9. Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s Disease By anh-usa (Alliance for Natural Health) on October 5, 2010. http://www.anh-usa.org/coconut-oil-and-alzheimers-disease/

All health issues are best understood and treated with a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors rather than with purely biological means. This context entails thoughts, emotions, behaviors, social factors, and environment, all of which play significant roles in human functioning and overall health. Therefore, it is important to gather input from all aspects of an individuals’ life to get better insight into depression.

Many people use the word “depression” to explain the feeling of sorrow, but depression is much more than just sadness. Sadness is a normal reaction to life’s struggles, setbacks, and disappointments. However, depressed people don’t feel sad—they may feel lifeless, empty, apathetic, and hopeless. Depression starts with just a feeling and then manifests in physical behaviors. The feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and worthlessness are intense and unrelenting. An unwanted complication of depression is suicide, which in fact has a higher rate than homicides in the US (1).

Hopelessness is the main indicator leading to suicide, a trapped pattern of thinking where individuals believe things will never get better. The deep despair and hopelessness that accompanies depression can make suicide seem like the only way to escape from the overwhelming circumstances. Therefore, suicidal thoughts must be considered as a cry for help and dealt with accordingly.

Psychosocial context appears to be the commonly associated culprit that may predispose people to depression instead of genetic predisposition and other secondary etiologic factors. Depression in the psychosocial context is related to a person’s perception of daily events. A specific event in a person’s life can trigger the beginning of a vicious cycle. Examples could include: changes in occupation, loss of a loved one, etc.

Modesty

In addition to hopelessness, avarice can lead to depression because it contributes to dissatisfaction, disappointment, and loss of sincerity. Sometimes, the lack of material goods can make a person happier than having them. Jealously chasing material things that others have can lead a person into depression. For example, the ancient philosopher Plato was wise but not wealthy; despite his lack of money he was content with his life. One day, as he was passing by a spring, he noticed a boy drinking water with his hands. The average person, having witnessed this, would give the child a cup, but Plato asked himself if the cup is even needed. If you focus on what you do not have, you will always be disappointed. Actually focusing on what you need in the present time can decrease the damage one incurs from his or her problems. The child was thirsty and he only needed water, so the cup was unnecessary.

If a person is only concerned with his or her own situation and not noticing the condition of those around them, it can turn trivial problems into mountains. By comparing one’s own problems with greater problems of others, the person can get a more accurate perspective. Though a person’s burden may appear unbearable, God has created each person with the ability to handle these burdens. It is recommended to keep hope by exercising patience and concerning yourself with the present condition rather than bringing problems up from the past or worrying about the future. The patience given to human beings is sufficient to all types of difficulties, unless used inappropriately to obsess about what already happened in the past or to worry about distant future.

Never lose hope

As shown in Table Figure 1, The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has established the universal criteria for health professionals to diagnose depression. According to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM IV) criteria, physicians diagnose an individual as having depression, which is further classified as minor or major in terms of the severity of the symptoms (2).

Hopelessness deserves special concern because it often triggers the other symptoms which may eventually lead to inertia.

Belief and prayer have found to be extremely helpful in combatting hopelessness by keeping hopes high. This can help to prevent serious depression or even suicide, for even in the most difficult times, belief can allow a person to stand firm with the conviction that even a single leaf would not drop without God’s knowledge. The Qur’an states: “Say (God gives you hope): ‘O My servants who have been wasteful (of their God-given opportunities and faculties) against (the good of) their own souls! Do not despair of God’s Mercy. Surely God forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, the All-Compassionate’” (The Qur’an 39.53).

The Bible echoes a similar tone when it says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103, 8-12).

What does the literature say about belief?

A survey revealed the fact that 82% of Americans believe that prayer can cure serious illness, 73% believe that praying for others can cure illness, and 64% want their physicians to pray with them. Health professionals – especially doctors and nurses – should be aware of the spiritual needs of their patients, should be familiar with literature on the effectiveness of prayer, and should integrate it into their comprehensive care plans (3).

From the biological perspective, as shown in Figure 2, symptoms and signs of depression shown in Figure 1 occur as a result of the change in the level of neurotransmitters – namely serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Today, pharmacological interventions to heal depression are mainly provided by drugs. These regulate the levels of the neurotransmitters. There aren’t many scientific studies focusing on depressing and religion, however McCullough’s review of literature clearly states that “People with high levels of general religious involvement, organizational religious involvement, religious salience, and intrinsic religious motivation are at reduced risk for depressive symptoms and depressive disorders” (4).

In conclusion, depression may arise from the lack of staying active. In order to keep away from the negative thoughts which serve as a starting point for depression’s vicious circle, praying and seeking help from the All-Knowing, All-Wise serves as a shelter from the negative feelings of temporary worldly troubles. Praying may provide a protection against negative thoughts that may arise from an external or internal source, eventually leading to a distortion of healthy thinking.

Subjective healing and improvement in health after praying, psychological therapy, and family and social support may stimulate some neurotransmitters, though this needs to be further clarified by comprehensive studies (5). However, even simple words may have an impact on the mood of any individual. Hearing a compliment may cause a smile, or receiving a phone call giving a bad news might cause sadness. How could sincerely pouring one’s heart out to the All-Knowing not reverberate from His eternal source into the body, even if the circumstances appear overwhelming?

Mucteba Muezzinoglu is a freelance currently living in Illinois, US.

Nate Emru is a Mental Health Counselor in Indianapolis, Indiana, US.

References

1. Further information is available at http://www.sprc.org/basics/about-suicide. Reached in April 25.
2. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). American Psychiatric Association provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.
3. Ameling A. 2000. “Prayer: an ancient healing practice becomes new again.” Holist Nurs Pract. Apr;14(3):40-8.
4. McCullough ME, Larson DB. 1999. “Religion and depression: a review of the literature.” Twin Res. Jun;2(2):126-36.
5. National Institute of Mental Health. What medications are used to treat depression? Reached from the website. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/mental-health-medications/complete-index.shtml#pub5

Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order, and leads to all that is good, just and beautiful.
–Plato

Music surrounds us. We may not always be attuned to hear it, but it is there, whether it is recorded music, the music of nature, or sounds inaudible to human ears. The ancients believed that even the stars in the heavens sang. They called it the “music of the spheres.” Pythagoras (sixth century BC) said, “there is music in the spacing of the spheres.” The Bible speaks of the heavens praising God: “Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!” (Psalm 148:3–4). And the Quran says, “All that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth glorifies God, the Absolute Sovereign, the All-Holy and All-Pure, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise” (Al-Jumuah 62:1).

Music has the power to heal or destroy. The nature of music is such that it can lift us into the heavens, or drag us down to the pit of hell, depending on what kind of music we listen to. Music can make us weep or dance with joy; it can bring us sanity or drive us mad. Music can bestow peace upon our souls and minds, or stir us up for battle. In short, music has power. Few other things touch us so deeply. We hear it with our physical ears, yet it is in our soul that it resonates.

All life resonates with and responds to sounds and rhythmic motions. Musical sounds, when combined in a certain way, can have a powerful effect upon the mind, body and emotions. The human body itself is like an instrument, humming with rhythm, vibrations and tonal frequencies. The very center of the human body, the heart, is a rhythmic instrument.

Music is a universal language. It speaks to everyone and everything. By feeling the vibrations through their hands, even the deaf can “hear” the music and feel the rhythm. It is a language that crosses the barriers of human vocal languages.

Plants and animals also respond to music. In various experiments, plants grew better when certain kinds of Western classical music and traditional Indian music were played. Dairy cows were found to prefer slow music, and produced more milk when it was played.

Because music has such power to affect us on such a deep level, it has been used for centuries to heal man’s body and soul. Many ancient civilizations, such as Greece, India, Israel, and Mesopotamia knew about and used music in their healing practices.

Ancient Greeks used music to help bring beauty and harmony, which they believed would then help the body to heal. Democritus believed that many diseases could be cured by the sound of a flute. Hippocrates used music to cure diseases. Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras all recognized the healing power of music, and Homer recommended music to counter negative emotions.

The priest-physicians of Egypt called music “the physic of the soul,” and used it to heal physical illnesses, nervous disorders and to lessen childbirth pain. The Ebers Papyrus (1550 BC) is the oldest preserved medical document in existence. Recorded in it are incantations that were chanted to heal the sick.

In ancient India, musicologists and mystics believed that health “is the balanced flow of energy through all the energy circuits of the mind and body.” When that flow was interrupted or hindered, the body got sick. They used sound therapy to restore harmony and rhythm to the body and mind.

The core study of Indian music/sound therapy was learning how to arrange different tones for different times of day and night, and for different seasons. In order to bring balance back to the body, therapists also had to know how all the tones affected body chemistry. In other words, they chose which melody, or raga, they played based on which particular disease they wanted to heal.

In the Middle East, during the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1257), the healing arts blossomed. Hospitals and medical schools based on Greek-Arab medicine were built throughout the Muslim world. A holistic approach was used in medicine, and included various types of therapy such as music therapy, aromatherapy, water therapy, and reading the Quran. The recitation of the Quran has been used for healing since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, and it has been referred to as a “book of healing.” Doctors found that music therapy worked especially well with patients who were depressed, or had other mental illnesses.

During this period, three brilliant men emerged who contributed much to the field of learning, including music as medicine. Abu Bakr Razi (834–932) worked with melancholy patients, most likely suffering from depression. Included in his list of beneficial activities to ease depression was listening “to songs which are sung by beautiful voices.”

Abu Nasr al-Farabi (870–950) was a man gifted with many talents. He invented and skillfully played a number of musical instruments. He also developed an Arabian tone system that is still used today. Farabi wrote in his book, Kitab al-Musiqa, “Music promotes good mood, moral education, emotional steadiness and spiritual development. It is useful for physical health. When the soul is not healthy, the body is also ill. Good music, which cures the soul, restores the body to good health.”

Ibn Sina (980–1037), who was known in the West as Avicenna, was greatly influenced by Farabi’s works. He said, “One of the best and most effective of treatments is to strengthen the mental and spiritual strengths of the patient, to give him more courage to fight illness, create a loving, pleasant environment for the patient, play the best music for him and surround him with people that he loves.”

During the Ottoman period (1299–1923), Dr. Musa bin Hamun, who was a palace doctor during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent (1491–1566), used music therapy in treating dental problems and childhood mental disorders. Sultan Giyasaddin wrote in his book, Kitab as-Sinaat, that, “scholars of India recommend that physicians study melodies and the theory of music. This science is necessary for the doctor, just like his search to understand the subtleties of diagnosing the pulse. In addition, some illnesses may be cured when the patient listens to certain melodies.”

For centuries, in various cultures and religions, music and dance have been combined to worship God. According to the Old Testament, King David of Israel danced with all his might before the Lord as an act of worship (2 Samuel 6:14). Likewise, in the Islamic tradition Prophet David’s worship and glorification of God was so powerful that even mountains, plants and animals joined his praise and responded to his voice: “And We subdued the mountains, as well as birds, to glorify Us along with David” (Al-Anbiya 21:79.

The Sufis were well aware of the power of dance and music together, and have used both in their religious practices, as well as in healing mental and nervous disorders. Even the musical instruments they used were believed to have different healing properties. The ney, a cane or reed flute, was an important instrument. Neys have been found in excavations at Ur, and in tomb paintings in Egypt. It was believed to help relieve stress and promote healthy sleeping patterns. The oud, or ud, is similar to a lute, and was supposed to be good for relieving headaches and melancholy. The naghara is a drum that was used to ease melancholy, as well as physical and mental exhaustion.

The harp is an instrument that has long been associated with angels and heaven, as well as being a symbol of relief and comfort. The ethereal sound of the harp is indeed “heavenly.” It is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Many ancient civilizations used the harp in their healing practices. Pythagoras saw the harp strings as symbols of the nervous system. In ancient Israel, David, when he was only a shepherd boy, played his harp to ease the mental suffering of King Saul when he was afflicted with an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14–17, 21–23).

Europeans, before the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, also used music in healing. The great medieval abbey of Cluny, in southern France, used chant and hymns, as well as the harp, to bring healing to the sick and comfort to the dying. In The Anatomy of Melancholy, written in the seventeenth century, Robert Burton wrote, “. . . beside that excellent power music (sic) hath to expel many other diseases, it is a sovereign remedy against despair and melancholy, and will drive away the devil himself.”

As science advanced and the belief in reason and rationality took hold in Europe, the idea of using music as medicine was cast aside. The new analytical approach to medicine meant that few physicians would use, or at least admit to using, music to treat a patient. The connection between the health of the soul and the body’s health was also largely dismissed. Music simply became a form of art or entertainment, unless it was used in the Church. The healing power of music was forgotten in the West, and would not re-emerge until after World War I.

Today, we are rediscovering what al-Farabi knew over a thousand years ago: when our body is sick, something is wrong in our soul. Music as therapy began to emerge in the United States after World Wars I and II. Local musicians, both amateur and professional, went to Veteran’s Hospitals around the country to play music for the recovering soldiers. Dr. Mehmet Oz, a world-renowned cardio-thoracic surgeon, began playing tapes of Sufi music before, during, and after surgery. He found that, as a result of listening to the music, patients were less depressed and less stressed. They healed faster, and left the hospital sooner. Dr. Oz wrote in Healing from the Heart, about the results of using Turkish makams with coma patients in his clinic. He found that 29% of the patients came out of their comas after listening to the makams.

One study found that students who played in the school orchestra had higher than average SAT scores. Learning to play an instrument has been shown to help develop the bridge (corpus callosum) between the left and right sides of the brain. Campbell says, “. . . the corpus callosum of musicians is thicker and more fully developed than in other people, reinforcing the idea that music enlarges existing neural pathways and stimulates learning and creativity.” Another study showed that “music majors and music education majors had the highest reading scores of any students on campus, including those in English, biology, chemistry, and mathematics.”

Just as an instrument out of tune in an orchestra causes disharmony, negative thoughts, events, or actions can result in a body and mind in disharmony. Ill-health – physical or mental – is the result. More research has to be done to explore music as a potential catalyst that can unlock and release buried emotions which may be making us ill.

The essence of music is an intangible thing. It can be measured by vibrations, sound waves, and resonances, yet those factors alone cannot explain music or why it affects us the way it does. Perhaps the best way is to say that music is a gift from God, meant to ease our suffering in this world, to remind us of His goodness, His mercy, and most of all, to help us connect with Him at a deeper level. It is a way for us to catch a glimpse of heaven.

Julie is a writer and musician who lives in Morgantown, WV, with her husband, Daniel, also a musician. She has grown twin sons who are also writers and musicians.

References

1. http://www.brainyquote.com

2. Roop Verma. “Nada Yoga: Sacred Music and Consciousness.” http://www.roopverma.com.

3. Rahmi Oruc Guvenc, “Music Therapy in Turkey,” Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, (March, 2006). http://www.voices.no.

4. Farid Alakbarov, “Music Therapy: What Doctors Knew Centuries Ago,” Azerbaijan International, 11.3 (Autumn 2003) 58-59, http://www.azer.com.

5. Pinar Somakci, “Music Therapy in Islamic Culture,” http://www.turkishmusicportal.org.

6. Alakbarov (2003), 58-59.

7. Unal, Ali, The Qur ’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, NJ: Tughra Books, 2008, pp. 670–671.

8. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Wikipedia. http://www.answers.com/topic/music-therapy.

9. Don Campbell, The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit (New York: Avon Books, 1997), 192.

10. Ibid, 177.

God burdens no soul except within its capacity… (Al-Baqarah, 2:286)

This verse is not strange to any Muslim. God has promised that He will never burden a person with difficulties beyond his or her capacity. This is supported by other verses in Surah Al-Inshirah (94:5–6), where it is said that with every hardship, comes relief and this divine statement is repeated twice in the same chapter. This clearly shows how God knows the limits of the human being’s capacity to endure challenges in life.

However, despite these beautiful statements God has made in the Qur’an, we still hear many people complaining about how tough life is, about how they cannot bear their problems anymore and asking why God gives them certain challenges other people do not have to bear. The worst thing is when suicide is contemplated as a reaction to what God has given to His servant.

These complaints, at first glance, appear to contradict these verses, since surely the people so afflicted should know their own capacity to endure tough problems. At second glance, however, it becomes clear that this is not so. Does God really test someone beyond his capacity?

In talking about the endurance of an individual, we cannot avoid the subject of coping skills. Generally, coping skills are divided into two categories, namely avoidance coping skills and approach coping skills (Soderstorm, et.al., 2000).

Avoidance coping skills are basically unhealthy ways of dealing with problems. These coping skills delay the process of recovery and emotional stability. An example of a coping skill of this type is substance abuse, where many people turn to coffee, drugs, cigarettes and other substances when they are in distress.

Another avoidance coping skill is denial, where the person refuses to believe what has happened. In some really bad cases, people go on with their lives, refusing to believe the problem they face and allowing the situation to deteriorate. Some other examples are self-harming, minimization and cognitive avoidance. These mechanisms of coping do not just delay the process of recovery, but also exacerbate the situation.

On the other hand, approach coping mechanisms promote the mental and physical well being of an individual. These mechanisms foster positive thinking and motivate problem-solving behaviors. One of the skills in this category is action taking. Rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen, a person who adopts approach coping mechanisms will plan the strategies and actions required to solve or ease the problem.

Another approach coping skill is acceptance. However, acceptance here means to admit that there is a problem and not resent to the occurrence of the problem. Acceptance which means giving up is not the same as acceptance as an approach coping skills. Positive acceptance is the opposite of denial. Therefore, acceptance is an important beginning of acting to solve or ease a problem.

Humor can also be an approach coping mechanism. By making appropriate fun of the problem, distress can be reduced, and thus more mental stability can be achieved. For example, a mother who has just experienced the loss of her child might say to herself, “At least he is enjoying as much candy as he wants in paradise.” By using appropriate humor like this, the mother can broaden her perspective, allowing her to see the brighter side of the loss she has experienced.

Religious coping is another strategy among approach coping skills. In psychological research, more and more studies suggest ways that spirituality and religiosity help in dealing with life’s problems. One of these studies (Meisenhelder and Chandler 2002) stressed that faith as the concept of spirituality was more applicable than religiosity. One of the variables investigated by these researchers, which was religious coping, correlated positively with mental health. This study is only one out of many to show a strong relation between spirituality and mental and physical well being.

Soderstorm et.al. (2000) also suggested some gender differences in coping strategies. They asserted that men tend to adopt task-oriented coping strategies or approach type and women tend to use the contrary, avoidance coping strategies. However, some other studies have suggested that women are more likely to use task-oriented coping strategies or that there are no gender differences (Holahan & Moos, 1985 as cited in Soderstorm et.al. 2000). Nevertheless, more and more researchers have found a tendency for men to focus on a problem and start taking action to overcome it.

The relation between the verse in Surah al-Baqarah at the beginning of this discussion and coping skills is clear. The question then arises: if it is true that God would never burden a soul beyond its capacity, why do some people complain of being unable to deal with a certain problem they face? If they think that God is unfair, or that they are now unable to cope, or are thinking of committing suicide, it is simply that they have adopted the wrong kind of coping strategy for their individual circumstances, or they may have adopted unhealthy avoidance coping strategies in dealing with problems.

Abi-Hashem (2007) describes how unhealthy coping skills can have negative impacts on people who live in a country with ongoing war, as in the Middle East. Such circumstances, where violence, cruelty, and harshness are an unavoidable part of life make things seem hopeless, and nothing can be done to break away from the situation. The author suggests that at this point, the best coping strategy to be employed is action taking, because worsening mental paralysis can happen to an individual in a country with war who takes no positive action. So, if a person feels as if the challenge God has given them is beyond what they can bear, they should ponder any action they have taken to adjust to the problem. They may have missed some points where, if action is taken, a great deal of worry and stress can be reduced or allayed.

Another way of looking at this is that religious coping skill correlates with mental well being. But sadly not many people realize the importance of religious coping skills in managing life’s problems. In many verses in the Qur’an (e.g. Al-An’am 6:102; Hud 11:123), God reminds us to depend on Him in all affairs, to put our trust in Him and make Him the basis of our decision making. This reflects all research findings, which tell us repeatedly of the advantages and positive outcomes of religious coping. Perhaps this is because we know that there is something we can rely on in hard times, which makes it easier for us to deal with life’s problems. Some practical ways to cope religiously are the performance of greater numbers of recommended prayers, more frequent remembrance of God, and contemplating the creation of the universe.

Sometimes we believe too much in the power of our own selves, feeling too confident that it is we who make the changes, who solve the problems. But we all know the power of togetherness. Support from other people can significantly increase the effectiveness of our coping style. We can reduce our stress by sharing what is bothering us and perhaps getting wiser advice from another person on handling the problems we are facing.

It is important to reflect on ourselves in times of stress. Do we just listen to ourselves? Do we turn to substances when we are distressed by something? Are we brave enough to accept the problem which is afflicting us? Most importantly, do we trust God enough to help us with our problems? These questions can only be answered by each individual for himself or herself.

Taufik Mohammad, PhD, is a senior lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia.

References

• Abi-Hashem, N. (2007). The agony, silent grief, and deep frustration of many communities in the Middle East: Challenges for coping and survival. In P. T. P. Wong and C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping, US: Springer US, pp. 457–486.
• Meisenhelder, J. B. & Chandler, E. N. (2002). Spirituality and health outcomes in the elderly. Journal of Religion and Health, 41, 243–252.
• Soderstrom, M., Dolbier, C., Leiferman, J. & Seinhardt, M. (2000). The relationship of hardiness, coping strategies, and perceived stress to symptoms of illness. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 23, 321–328.

However, as one’s age increases, most bodily functions peak and then start to diminish. A better aging strategy would be to age in the healthiest possible manner; i.e., keeping the physical and mental functions as sharp as possible, in particular the memory, so as not to lose human dignity in old age.

Aging and Memory

As one ages, reactions start to slow, the speed of understanding and the level of concentration diminish. The precipitous decline of dopamine-containing neurons in the human brain after age 45 is a universal characteristic of the aging process. The nigrostriatal region of the brain is richest in dopamine and undergoes the most rapid aging of any brain area. Age-associated depletion of dopamine also accounts for less noticeable symptoms, like a decline in physical drives and brain functions. These reactions are mostly on a mental or psychological level. In addition to these, wrinkles appear in the skin, hairs gray, and joints become gnarly. Perhaps, most important of all, is that according to recent research carried out on the brain, by the time most people hit 40, their brainpower starts to weaken. This does not mean that people become incompetent, just a bit slower in the cognitive process. This phenomenon is called “generalized slowing” by psychologists. According to James Birren, the Associate Director of the Center on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles, the first signs of aging appear on tests used to measure mental speed and acuity, in which people count the number of lights flashed on a screen, for instance, or trace a complicated pattern while looking at a mirror.

“But eventually the down-turn affects almost everything we do,” says Birren, “From how fast we hit the breaks when a car pulls in front of us to how quickly we learn new skills on the job or remember old what’s-her-name’s name.”

Then the question is whether the slowing process is unavoidable. According to psychologist Robert Dustman, the answer to this is yes. One of the country’s top experts on aging and the brain, Dustman directs the Neuropsychology Research Laboratory at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. He’s just turned 70 and shows no signs of slowing down himself. “It is true that when we compare 20-year-olds with 60-year olds on almost any test that measures the speed of information processing, younger people on average score significantly better than the older ones,” he says, “But that does not have to be. There is a simple way I can ward off the scourge of slowness,” Dustman says. And the way to do this is to stay in shape.

At first it seems to go against common sense that in some way a mindless act like jogging or striding around a park is relevant to the speed of thinking. But Dustman explains the connection in a very logical way.

Every cell in the body requires a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients to function at its peak. But surprisingly, no cells need a greater oxygen supply than the gray matter that rests between our ears. The brain, although it makes up only 2% of our body weight, uses up 25% of the glucose and oxygen supply.

Now suppose a person slips out of shape, their heart gets lazy, the arteries get clogged, the blood flow to capillaries slows down, and the oxygen and nutrient supply to the brain falls us. As a result, neurons get less than they need to function properly, the electrical signals slow down, and hence the mind slows down. A recent study shows that blood pressure (or lack of it) is highly correlated to memory; so much so that, a reduction of it causes the memory to weaken.

But getting older does not mean that one must face a full-scale slowdown, Dustman says. The problem is that by 45, when the brain is quickly falling into decline, most of us neglect to perform the activities that keep the arteries open, the heart strong, and blood flowing; namely exercise. Dustman’s own studies suggest that working out might be an antidote. In one of his studies, he ran 60 male volunteers, half in their twenties, half in their sixties, through the standard mental tests. As expected, the younger group had higher mental speeds. But when Dustman looked closely at the older group, he noticed that the ones who were exercising or had remained active had a brain speed that was comparable to that of the younger set.

The tests included actions as simple as pushing a button each time an X appeared in a long string of O’s to memorizing numbers and symbols. “On many measures,” says Dustman “the older men in good condition scored just as well as men 30 and 40 years their junior.” In real life, that is, they could find a number in a phone book or remember that sensible is a synonym for rational.

When one exercise, in other words, the sections of the brain which control movement and balance are fired up, the electrical signals zap back and forth along the nerves from the brain to the muscles and tendons. The eyes, the inner ear, and other sensory nerves all roll into action. The benefits of these can be detected clearly in the brainwaves and electrical impulses recorded by researchers.

Indeed, in Dustman’s study, the older men who were still fit had surprisingly youthful-looking brain waves. They produced more alpha waves, a pattern associated with calmness under pressure, and had steeper peaks and valleys in waves, which signifies an ability to block out distractions. Furthermore, when subjected to a sudden flash of light or a sound blast, they were faster to produce a wave called P-300, which is associated with fast reactions. “People in good shape can really focus,” says Dustman. “They can pen a letter to a friend without the sound of children playing downstairs disturbing them. They can fill out tax forms correctly after reading the directions once.” For someone who’s out of shape, the news is grim. In addition to problems that range from overweight to heart disease and diabetes, the results of a sedentary life style, it turns out that the brain will very likely start to weaken as well. Still, Dustman is optimistic. He once encouraged 42 sedentary people over 55 to exercise (walking or jogging) three times a week. After four months, the aerobic capacity of the volunteers increased 25 % and they scored better on mental speed tests. In light of this study, Dustman thinks that even easy exercise, such as brisk walking can speed up the minds of people after years of inactivity. The time required varies, however. In similar studies, it took about a year to observe an increase in the speed of the brain.

But it is not time that is important here; the goal is rather not to lose brain capacity until a very old age. It would be better if one were always to keep in shape, as it is easier to keep something that works running than to start it up again once it has slowed down. “The real benefit seems to come from making a lifelong habit of staying active,” says Dustman.

It is better to maintain a regular routine of exercises than to start up new ones. Researchers at the University of Illinois compared middle-aged lab rats who padded daily on a running mill to rats who negotiated a complicated obstacle course of rope bridges and seesaws a few times a day. Predictably, both groups got more blood flowing to the brain. But the obstacle-mastering rats had 25% more hard-wired connections between neurons. Assuming the same is true for humans, then exercises which require more brain activity are potentially more rewarding.

Aging and Sleep

The obvious dangers of not getting enough sleep include mental fuzziness, an increased chance of accidents, illness, psychological problems, and decreased productivity at work or school. But Dr. Eve Van Cauter wrote in the prestigious medical journal Lancet that less sleep can actually speed the process of aging. In her informative study, young men who were allowed to sleep only 4 hours each night showed signs of aging in less than a week. Their glucose tolerance dropped considerably, and they started to release cortisol, the stress hormone, at a greater rate than normal.

Sleep offers the body an opportunity to heal and rebuild itself. Pro-sleep nutrients might help in this cause. For example, it has been shown that nutritional supplements containing zinc, magnesium, and pyridoxine (vitamin B6) , among other benefits, help sleep efficiency. A herbal amino acid 5-hydroxytryptophan is another promising sleep aid to use in times of extreme stress. Among sleep promoting herbs from traditional Chinese medicine are ziziphus spinosa (jujube), schisandra chinensis, and bupleurum chinense (Chinese thoroughwax). These herbs seem to relax the muscles and soothe the central nervous system. Sleep is and remains to be the most precious source of energy replenishment.

Melatonin: A God-given Sleeping Pill

Melatonin is a natural molecule made by the pineal gland, which is located in the brain. Melatonin is made from an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, that is, the body cannot make it; we need to get it from the foods we eat. Tryptophan is found in wide variety of foods. As we consume tryptophan during the day, the body converts it into serotonin, an important chemical for the brain that is involved with moods. Serotonin, in turn, is converted into melatonin. This conversion occurs most efficiently at nights.

Melatonin helps to set and control the internal clock that governs the natural rhythms of the body. Each night the pineal gland produces melatonin, which helps us to fall asleep. Research about this molecule has been going on since it was discovered at Yale University by Dr. Lerner in 1958, but recently there has been a great deal more attention being paid to melatonin. About a thousand articles on melatonin are published annually. One major reason is that scientists are discovering that melatonin is not only associated with deep sleep, but also with our hormonal, immune, and nervous systems. Research is accumulating about melatonin’s role as a powerful antioxidant, its possible anti-aging benefits, and its immune-enhancing properties.

Aging and Free Radicals

A free radical is a molecule that contains an unpaired electron through reactions with the essential element oxygen. These molecules “steal” electrons from nearby molecules to complete that final electron pair for stability. Then they are no longer free radicals, but they convert the new combined molecule into a new free radical. In a living organism, this process can cause a chain reaction of severe cellular damage, unless prevented.

The theory that free radicals are agents of bodily destruction is gaining widespread acceptance, as is the value of antioxidants in preventing such an occurrence.

According to the journal Annals of Clinical and Laboratory Science, the excess of free radicals in our body, i.e. “the domino effect”, is a critical factor in many health problems. An interesting and concerning fact about free radicals is that they cause the same reactions within the cells that occur during exposure to radiation. Free radicals released in the body destroy even proteins, the essential constituents of the body that regulate hormones and enzymes and that make up nerves, muscles, skin, and hair. It is usually suggested that antioxidants are used to fight these harmful free radicals. Fruits and vegetables are plentiful in vitamins A, C, and E, the key antioxidants. Polyphenols, which are found in grapes and green tea extracts are potent antioxidants. In fact, scientists have found out that procyanidins are the most promising polyphenols. In Japan, scientists have discovered that they may be 50 times more powerful than vitamins C and E in fighting free radicals. Alpha-lipoic acid, which is soluble in both water and lipids, can neutralize free radicals throughout the body. In fact, alpha-lipoic acid is involved in so many different antioxidant functions that it has been called the “universal antioxidant.” Citrus bioflavonoids and certain fruit and vegetable pigments are also strong free radical fighters.

Deprenyl: An Anti-aging Treatment?

Deprenyl (selegiline) provides selective protection against age-related degeneration of the dopamine nervous system. It is the only inhibitor used in clinical practice. The rate at which dopamine neurons age is quite variable. Before age 45, dopamine levels stay quite stable. Starting at 45, the decrease in average dopamine content in healthy people is linear, at 13% per decade. When it reaches 30%, the symptoms of Parkinson appear.

The sensitivity of the dopaminergic nervous system to oxidizing free radicals has been well established. The protective effect of deprenyl in lessening the neurotoxic effect of the oxidants (6-hydrpxydopa and 6-hydroxydopamine) appears to correlate with increased antioxidant enzyme levels. The increase in the antioxidant level is proportional to the deprenyl intake.

There as yet has been no definitive study of the long-term use of deprenyl in healthy people as a life-extension and cognitive-enhancing drug. But there has been extensive animal research. The lifespan of deprenyl-taking rats is significantly greater than normal rats, in fact, all the control rats died before the first deprenyl-taking rat died. Early research with deprenyl in humans (early-diagnosed Parkinson patients) shows delayed development of symptoms. Deprenyl has also been established as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Eventually, deprenyl has the potential of becoming a general treatment for aging in people above the age of 45.

Conclusion

Although we know for sure that there cannot be an absolute cure for aging, the results of it can be slowed down considerably. Soundness and health of mind are desirable traits for all ages, not just for the elderly. After many years, many elderly people lose much of their memory and mental capacities; this occurs just at the time when they can pass on all their wisdom and experience to the younger generations. Hopefully, with the advent of science and technology, the deficiencies in the brain due to aging can be avoided to a certain extent. The solution lies in a balanced collaboration of modern medicine and traditional natural cures that have been practiced for centuries.

References

• Life expectancy around the world http://www.mrdowling. .com/800life.html
• Peter Jaret, (1997) THINK FAST- from Health Magazine, http://www.brain.com/TFarticle.html
• Ray Sahelian, M.D., (1997) “Melatonin: Nature’s Sleeping Pill,” http://www.brain.com/melatonin.html
• Ward Dean, M.D., and Steve Wm. Fowkes. “Deprenyl: A Universal Anti-aging Strategy?,” http://www.ceri.com/ deprenyl.htm
• Spiegel, K. et al. (1999), “Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function,” Lancet; 354 (9188):1453-9.
• Amtoft-Nielsen, J., M.D. (2002), “Researchers Find Sleepless Nights Speed up Aging,” Journal of Longevity, Vol. 8/No.5: 38-39.
• Abraham, I., M.D. (2002). “The Domino Effect – The Cause of Rapid Aging?,” Journal of Longevity, Vol 8/ No. 4: 36-38.