Managing Bipolar Disorder According to Islamic Approaches

Categories: Health Education

Introduction

Bipolar disorder or formerly known as manic-depressive illness is a psychiatric disorder which is involving extreme emotional changes.

The mood swings of bipolar disorder are unpredictable because their emotions can change drastically from being sad to happy. Bipolar disorder can be suffered regardless of gender and age. However, some people would never aware that they are having this disorder because it seems normal on the external. There are two types of bipolar disorder which are bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder.

Someone associated with bipolar I disorder will experience at least one manic episode without a major depressive episode while someone associated with bipolar II disorder will experience a major depressive episode alternating with episodes of hypomania which is a moderate form of mania. Causes of bipolar disorder There are several factors involved in causing bipolar disorder which is having physical changes in the brain of people, history of substance abuse and inheritance component.

Bipolar disorder patient is having physical changes in the brain relating to dopamine and other neurotransmitters.

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Dopamine plays an important role in the movement, motivation and focus while other neurotransmitters like serotonin act as the controller of emotions. The scientist also believes that the changes of the genes may lead to faulty proteins being produced within brain cells, which may cause bipolar disorder. Next, over half patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder have a history of substance abuse. Cocaine abuse and bipolar disorder were mentioned as the highest rate of association exists between it. Cocaine is known as a powerfully addictive stimulant drug that can transform our brain structure and function if people consume it continuously.

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This is because the use of cocaine correlates to the maniac depression cycle of the bipolar patient which will increase their energy and sensitivity. In fact, the use of drugs will result in manic episodes and make it hard for the doctors to diagnose the disorder. Besides, bipolar disorder has an inherited component. This disorder constantly engages with family members which means children who have at least one parent with bipolar disorder are more likely to develop the illness.

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

There are various symptoms on two different episodes which are manic and depressive.

Bipolar patients will experience symptoms of manic episodes such as their energy level will increase so that they become more active and restless as well as the need of sleep will also decrease in their daily lives. Their euphoric mood which means the excitement and happiness is excessively high and their sexual drive also increased. During this episode, bipolar patients also indicate the aggressive behavior as they will become more provocative and intrusive. However, someone in this episode will experience unrealistic beliefs in one’s abilities, powers or importance and also unable to concentrate will result in a poor judgement. Next, bipolar patient will face persistent sad, anxious or empty mood in their body when in a depressive episode. They are mostly fatigue so they cannot feel the pleasure in activities. The feelings of guilt, worthlessness or helplessness is extremely high until they are having thoughts to attempt suicide.

The Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder usually is diagnosed when patients experience periods of mood disturbance and being treated by a psychiatrist or a psychologist with medical assistance.

Several clinical tests are used to check the patients mental status and to determine the presence of bipolar symptoms which means the examiner will observe someone’s appearance, attention span, memory and judgement skills while the laboratory test for drug and alcohol also can be used in order to discover other causes of the behavior. Despite, if someone in cases of substance abuse such as cocaine, they must undergo a period of detoxification before the disorder being diagnosed. There are also 2 classification system which is available in Malaysia to diagnose this illness such as the International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems 10th Revision for 2010 and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition.

According to this manual, it is required at least two months free of symptoms to identify between manic and depressive episodes. However, bipolar disorder is commonly mistaken with other psychiatric problems, so the role of doctors is important in detecting this disorder. There are also a few tools that can be used to analyze bipolar disorder such as mood disorder questionnaire (MDQ), bipolar spectrum diagnostic scale (DSDS) and hypomania checklist (HCL-32).

The differences between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder Bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder are two different conditions with different approaches to treatment. Bipolar disorder common in both men and women and without regardless of age while borderline personality disorder is three times more common in young women than men.

People with borderline personality disorder will experience various of behaviors and self-image in order to escape from uncomfortable emotions such as being neglect and abuse since kid while bipolar patient is facing severe mood changes such as from being happy to sad. For example, in the case of Harris, he faces his common life as a university student until he started to change after the new semester opens. Harris shocked everyone around him as he looked very happy and smiled a lot. He also showed even greater changes in his behavior that he enthusiastically wanted to do everything such as he registered a total of 32 credits in that semester, joined computer classes, karate training, the brass-band and has given name to two community service programs but eventually he was unable to do all the things. After 4 weeks, Harris behavior changed drastically as he lost his mood and became very upset and depressed over unexplained things until he felt that everything around him let him down. The treatments for bipolar disorder according to western approach Medication is the most effective treatment to control the highs and lows of bipolar patient. The psychiatrist will suggest some mood stabilizing agents such as lithium or lithane with antidepressants, antipsychotics and anticonvulsants, which is to relieve the symptoms of manic and depressive episodes and reduced mood swings.

However, there are also possible side effects of the drug which are weight gain, thirst, nausea and hand tremors. Furthermore, electroconvulsive therapy also has been successful in treating bipolar depression and it has been used in patient with severe depression and suicidal thoughts. This method will relieve patient depression because the treatment consists of a series of electrical pulses that move into the brain through electrodes on the patient’s head. Besides, there are also alternative and complementary treatment that can be practiced for controlling the bipolar symptoms. For instance, Chinese herbs are able to stabilize mood such as a mixture called the iron fillings combination that includes asparagus, arisaema, orange peel, fu-shen, salvia, polygala and many more.

The treatments for bipolar disorder according to Islamic approach In Islam, human pain represents a test for every Muslim and it is an obligatory for them to seek help and stay hopeful for Allah as He mentioned that for every hardship would come ease soon.

Every human who is suffering in diseases is indicated to cleanse and improve their spiritual level towards Allah so that they will increase their faith and put trust in Him as He is the only Healer. According to Imam al-Ghazzali who was a leading scholar of Islamic thought, he said that “those who know him, he will know God” as self-knowledge is the key to knowing God. In that case, he has introduced a therapy technique called the Therapy Of Opposites.

This therapy actually makes someone recognize about oneself and Allah better. Al-Bakhi also introduced a therapy called Rational Cognitive Therapy which is especially for depression by providing support from his fellow patient to the patient through conversation. This therapy can reduce bipolar patient’s depressions as this therapy is about to set up the correct thoughts and feelings.

The Effective Preventions of Bipolar Disorder

Many bipolar patients can benefit from knowing how to prevent early warnings of a possible episodes so that they can cope and manage effectively in their daily lives. One of the effective prevention of bipolar disorder which is they must become an expert in knowing the illness by reading all matters about the disorder and how it can be treated by referring experts.

Bipolar patient also needs to stay healthy like exercising regularly, not taking any alcohol or drugs so that it can give such a positive effect on mood. Next, bipolar disorder generally takes a long time to recover like for one or two years, so it is very crucial for them to continue to take the medication until the doctor advises otherwise. This prevention is to ensure that all bipolar patients become healthier and feel better without any further episodes coming. Other than that, bipolar patient need to maintain social support from family members and friends. This is because, most of bipolar disorder are used to spend too much time alone while being depressed and sad about unexplained things in their life. With this, bipolar patient can control their emotions and depressions better through help and moral support from the family members and friends.

The Help Towards Families Who Suffering With Bipolar Disorder

There are several ways to help family members who suffering a bipolar disorder in a different episodes.

When the family members experiencing a manic episode, it might be hard for someone to cope with the situations because bipolar patients tend to act dangerously without considering others. Thus, it is difficult for bipolar patients to listen and follow the instruction given. Therefore, someone need to remain calm and do not try to argue with them. Do not get carried away by their high mood and always talk nicely will also help them to overcome it. Another way to help family members with bipolar disorder is trying to be as supportive as possible by listening and understanding their problems. This is because people who in depression tend to talk a lot about how stress and bad they feel. This way will make the bipolar patient more comfortable as they have someone to rely on. As a family member also can take another option to help the bipolar patient who is severely depressed and suicidal by allowing police to take them to the hospital if they refused to receive the treatment. Family members might feel guilty for involving the police, but it is sometimes necessary to do so in order to prevent them making things out of control. In addition, family members also can help bipolar patients by planning on how to avoid the crisis in the future.

They must know how to respond and deal with the episodes, including the suicidal behavior so that they will always be ready for it.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that there are no cure have been found by scientist but it can relieve the symptoms with a proper treatment such as consuming medications, electroconvulsive therapy, therapy of opposite and rational cognitive therapy. However, if a bipolar patient does not refer to the doctor or psychiatrist, their conditions would be severe as the untreated manias often last for two months to three months while the untreated depressions usually last longer which is between four and six months. The untreated bipolar disorder may negatively affect their work, social activities, family and life with others in any circumstances. Therefore, family members or friends play an important role to take immediate action when they begin to show some symptoms of bipolar disorder.

References

  1. CAMH Bipolar Clinic Staff, 2013, “Bipolar Disorder An Information Guide”, Canada, Centre For Addiction And Mental Health.
  2. Jamsari Alias And Norazila Mat, 2012, “Managing Bipolar Disorder And Manic-Depressive Psychosis (MDP) According To Western And Islamic Approaches”, Medwell Journals.
  3. Jacqueline L. Longe, 2011, “The Gale Encyclopedia Of Childrens’s Health: Infancy Through Adolescence”, Farmington Hills, Gale Cengage Learning.
  4. Dr. Rafidah Bahari And Dr. Zainal Fitri Zakaria, 2014, “Management Of Bipolar Disorder In Adults”, Putrajaya Malaysia, Malaysia Health Technology Assessment Section.
Updated: Jan 24, 2024
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Managing Bipolar Disorder According to Islamic Approaches. (2024, Jan 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/managing-bipolar-disorder-according-to-islamic-approaches-essay

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