Depression may lead to suicide

Reports were leaked that former President Ronald Reagan fell victim to a state of severe depression. His situation was attributed to his being over seventy years of age while still having to face tremendously stressful problems and to his having undergone periodic operations.

Many famous people, suffer from depression. It has been said that Napoleon Bonaparte, while still in exile, died in a state of depression.

Not too long ago, a German woman killed three of her children. It later became clear that her reason for doing this horrible act stemmed from her state of depression. Since she loved her children a great deal, she feared that they would have to go through the pain and hardship that she had undergone in her life. Thus, she decided to “give them comfort” and “to save each one of them” from the difficulties and vicissitudes of life. After murdering them, she took her own life.

The numbers issued by the World Health Organization indicate the severity of the situation. In 1973 it reported that three percent of the world’s population was afflicted with depression. The figures increased dramatically and in 1978 the figure was up to five percent. What might come as a surprise to some is that some studies have shown that one out of every four Americans suffers from depression. During the conference of Mental Disorders that was held in Chicago in 1981, the chairman of the conference announced that one hundred million people in the world suffer from depression. What might come as a surprise to some is that most of them were from developed countries. Other studies have even proclaimed a number of two hundred million.

It is said that, “The intelligent person is not he who is able to increase his profits, but he who transforms his losses into profits.”

things that are over and finished with should not be dwelt upon, since doing so leads only to anxiety, worry, and wastage of time.

When having no work to do, one can fill his time with many useful activities. These are some such activities doing good deeds, helping others, visiting the sick, visiting the graveyard (to remember and reflect on one’s final destination), participating in charitable work, doing physical exercise, visiting loved ones, organizing one’s affairs, and lending aid to the old, the poor, and the weak.

A poet said:
“A generous deed is singular in its sweet taste And in its beautiful appearance.”

Look through any history book and you will find among its pages stories of pain, privation, and misery.

Another poet said:
“Read History as it is filled with morals,
A Nation will sink if it knows nothing of its annals.”

An old scholar said :
“Let the days bring what they may, And be contented when a decree has come to pass, When the execution of it comes in a land of some nation, Neither earth nor sky can prevent it.”

How many times have we feared death and then nothing came of it? How many times have we felt the end near, yet we then returned stronger than before? How many times have we found ourselves in difficulties, yet after the passing of a short time were allowed to taste the sweetness of ease and relief ?
Or how many times have we been sick only to be restored to health ?

When one knows with certainty that Allah (GOD) controls everything, how then can he feel any fear of anyone other than Him? And when one fears Allah (GOD), how can he fear others alongside Him.

Another old scholar said that, with the phrase, “There is neither might nor power except with Allah (GOD),” heavy things are carried, obstacles are overcome, and honor is achieved. So remember this phrase constantly, since it is a treasure from the treasures of Paradise and a pillar of happiness and contentment.