Haleh Banani – Mental Health More Important Than Physical Health

			Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. And I'm going to share with you
some encouraging words to make sure that you're attending to your mental health. So I'm really calm.
My name is Hala. Banani empowering you with psychological tips and spiritual support. Bismillah was
salat wa salam ala Rasulillah. So with mental health, it is so critical that you prioritize it and
you make sure that you're attending to your mental health, as much as you do with your physical
health, there's no shame in getting help, there are so many people who are struggling and they are
suffering alone, because they're too afraid to speak up. I was reading an article the other day
		

			saying that is just unbelievable how many people are suffering and not, you know, not maybe seeking
help. And it is very important to recognize the importance of it. Now, what happens is that the fear
of getting that stigma, the fear of maybe being ridiculed is so strong, and we really need to
overcome. And I know our community has come a long way. I graduated from my master's degree in 1998.
At that time, there were hardly any counselors, there were psychiatrists, and maybe psychologists,
but very few therapists, we have come a long way. And people are seeing the value of it, it is being
validated by the shoe and our Muslim community. And it wasn't like that 20 years ago. So we have
		

			come along, but we still have a long way to go, we really need to encourage our family members, if
you see that they have any kind of issues, to recognize it and get them the help they need. You
know, I recently had a client who was diagnosed, I sent them to a psychologist to get their
diagnosis, and they had bipolar and the mother refused to believe it. And she just said, No, I don't
think my daughter has it. I said, you know, with all due respect, you know, you're you're not a
psychiatrist. This is what the test has said. And when professionals tells you like, you just take
what they say. But sometimes it's very hard. And I understand it's hard to take that label, and not
		

			accepting the label does not make the problem go away. And that's something very important to
realize. And that's how I explained it to her that if you refuse to believe that you have cancer, or
your child has cancer, God forbid, doesn't make the cancer go away, you're actually not treating it.
And so it was a very profound moment when I explained it to the mother got her on board and had her,
you know, just apologize to her daughter that she was not accepting this diagnosis and daughter
broke down and cried and said, You know, I was already dealing with so much having this diagnosis,
and then you kind of denying that it exists was very difficult. So we need to recognize when family
		

			members have a disorder and be there for them, support them. Don't ridicule, don't be little, don't
be dismissive. When client actually told me that I wish I had cancer, so that my family which shows
a little bit of empathy, she had a mental disorder. And she's like, I wish I had cancer because not
only am I not pampered or I'm not, you know, cared for, but I'm also dismissed and ridiculed. So we
really need to be cautious about how we're treating individuals who in our family that may have
these mental health issues and for yourself, if you find that you're excessively depressed, or
you're excessively anxious, if you have like obsessive compulsive disorder, whatever it is, they are
		

			treatable. And there are many times that I have people that come in, and they are struggling, they
have been suffering for years, and within four to five sessions, I've come up with methodologies
that are so effective, and so solution focused, they are relieved and they said I wish I came years
ago. So you don't have to suffer silently. You don't have to feel like your life is doomed. There
are solutions, there are very effective ways to make sure that you get the treatment that you need.
And if your family if anyone in your family has sad just be a source of support, you may not have
the answers you may not understand, but you can at least be there beside them. If someone had
		

			diabetes, you wouldn't ostracize them for taking medication. If you broke your arm, you wouldn't
feel embarrassed to go to the doctor. So we really need to get over the stigma that we have about
getting treatment for mental health. And no one even needs to know if you don't want to announce it.
You don't have to broadcast it. And now especially since everything is being done online, you can
get the treatment and the help you need without it being broadcasted. And that way you take the
steps to being at peace with yourself because those who suffer from whether it is anxiety, whether
it is the depression and whether it's bipolar when you are just trying to deal with it on your own.
		

			You know, many people actually end up resorting to using drug use as a way to self medicate. Many of
my clients have just you know, taken on smoking marijuana as a way to subside the anxiety so not
getting a treated the problem is still
		

			We're going to be there the symptoms are going to be there, many people take it in their own hands
to self medicate, which is much worse, right? So it's better to get it treated professionally take
steps towards improving yourself. And if anyone in your family is suffering, be supportive, be
understanding, and educate yourself, the best thing you can do is educate yourself and know what
kind of symptoms they have. And try to be as understanding as you can because you know, it can get
exasperated if you don't treat it, if you treat it, many of them can be managed, or sometimes you
can just kind of cure yourself with the treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy. Sometimes you
		

			need the combination of that and medication. But what you need to do is make sure that you take the
first step, acknowledge that there's a problem, seek professional help, and be a source of support
and then educate yourself because there's nothing worse than denying that you have a problem. The
first step I always tell my clients, I'm so proud of them for taking that first step because
acknowledging that you have a problem and seeking help for it is the most important step. So I pray
that we can all get the support that we need and be a source of support for our loved ones and
community members who are really struggling at this time and make sure you call and you check up on
		

			people that that may be suffering silently and by you calling and showing that you care about them
and you're thinking about them. It really may make the biggest difference in the world to them that
someone cares and someone is looking out for them. Thank you for tuning in salaam aleikum