Making Sense of the Unseen Pain

People with mental health issues are often stigmatised by society and their friends and family, to the extent that they feel grateful when they come across a stranger who understands their invisible pain.

Journeying through the author’s personal experience in living with mental illness, it inspires her to write, advocate, and raise awareness in the community. Through this book, the author shares a snippet of the sharp and painful truth about what it feels like living with mental illness while dealing with biased community around us.

There is more to mental health than just self-love and self-care. It has been truly liberating to be able to understand more about what we are experiencing, accepting ourselves, and be more compassionate.

CONTENTS V

PREFACE VIII

CHAPTER ONE 1

UNDERSTANDING THE UNSEEN PAIN 1

Feeling Lost in Life 1

The Dark Rabbit Hole 2

Unfolding the Unseen Pain 4

Mental illness vs Physical illness 5

Islam and Mental Health 9

CHAPTER TWO 15

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IN

THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY 15

Misconceptions About Mental Health in

the Muslim Community 15

The Struggle and Jihad 16

Mental Health within Islamic History 23

Seeking Professionals 27

CHAPTER THREE 32

ADDRESSING GENERATIONAL TRAUMA 32

Comparison in Parenting Style 32

Generational Trauma 34

Normalising Abuse 35

The Islamic Way of Raising Children 37

Debunking Misconception 39

“I Survived. Why Can’t You?” 42

CHAPTER FOUR 49

MAKING SENSE OF SHAME 49

Concealing Negative Emotions 49

Bottling Up 51

Trust and Vulnerability 55

The Perfect Vision Illusion 58

Making Sense of Shame 59

CHAPTER FIVE 67

DEALING WITH STIGMA 67

Difficulties on Acceptance Towards Indifference 67

Facing the Harshness of Stigma 70

Ideologies and Beliefs That Breed Stigma 71

Educating People About Mental Health 76

Awareness on Mental Health 79

CHAPTER SIX 86

FINDING THE RIGHT THERAPIST 86

Navigating the Journey of Therapy 86

Lack of Compassion 87

Injustice in the Psychiatry World 91

Finding the Right Psychiatrist 97

CHAPTER SEVEN 105

LEANING ON PEER SUPPORT 105

Finding a Peer 105

The Experience of Peer Support 109

Offering Understanding and Sympathy

Between Both Parties 115

Knowing to Listen Without Judgement 116

Giving Reassurance 116

CHAPTER EIGHT 122

ACKNOWLEDGING LIMITATIONS 122

Addressing Limitations 122

Different Limitations 124

Embracing Limitations 126

Conclusion 128

CHAPTER NINE 131

EDUCATING SOCIETY ON MENTAL

HEALTH 131

An Uncomfortable Condition to Talk About 131

Importance of Knowledge on Mental Health 132

The Benefits of Mental Health Education 137

A Sea of Ignorance 139

Conclusion 140

CHAPTER TEN 143

A PERSPECTIVE ON HEALING 143

The Wisdom of Calamities and Pain 143

The Gain from Pain 146

Inspiration from Quran on Healing 148

Self-Healing: A Personal Approach to Healing 149

Self-Healing is a Process 155

My Journey of Bibliotherapy 156

The Inspiring Ayah 157

Self-Efficacy: The Belief in Abilities 161

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 167

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 168

ABOUT THE ARTIST 169

REFERENCES 170