Tarek Kareem Harris – S2E1 Hang On #1 – Courage And Strength For Those Who Need It. Building A Strong Mind

			It's mental wealth with Dr. tk Harris.
		

			Hang on, hang on, hang on. This clip is for those of us who need to hear this. This clip is for
those of us who are having a hard time, or who knows someone who's having a hard time.
		

			Mental wealth is something that everyone can have even those who are unwell. This is for those of
you who are in the shadows, who can't even make it out of the house, or out of your room, or who
feel locked in your own mind, a prisoner of thought, or stuck with people who don't understand you.
Hang on, hang on.
		

			Follow me through the steps. Step one, understanding why should you hang on. Because there is light
that is to come. Let me explain. There is a good reason why you ended up watching this right now. I
don't know what that reason is, in your case, maybe you are sliding down into a dark place. Maybe
this is happening to someone you know, and you don't know what to do to help them. And you've come
looking for some advice.
		

			I guarantee you that if you are there, down in that place. This one fact will help you. You are
alive.
		

			As long as you are alive, you have a purpose. How do we know? Because whether you believe in God or
not, there is always a purpose to what is happening.
		

			Every living thing is designed to have a goal directed life.
		

			The Almighty has told us as much if you are people of faith.
		

			You may be confused. Why am I alive? And yet I see no point to living. I've run out of hope. I'm
full of fear. I'm exhausted. I don't care anymore. I feel like a bad person. Why me? What's going
on?
		

			There's a simple answer, the thoughts that you are having are not natural to you.
		

			If you are down in that darkness, it is a result of a loss of normal functioning in your brain.
		

			It is unnatural for any living thing to want to die or to lose hope. We are designed to have a zest
for life.
		

			If you feel worn out to the point where you've lost that, then there is something predatory that has
sat inside your mind like a disease. Just like bacteria that come into your lungs and give you a
chest infection, depression or other mental health problems can get into your head and impair your
brain function.
		

			And when that brain doesn't work properly, your thinking starts to feel very, very low.
		

			Your confusion, your despair, your hopelessness. Those are symptoms. And it is dangerous to confuse
symptoms with facts. Symptoms are not facts. They're just symptoms.
		

			Unlike a lung infection, though, depression and other such conditions are invisible.
		

			They take over your conscious control without you knowing.
		

			They make you think that what you are thinking is normal.
		

			But I bet you know deep down that something ain't right. You feel it. There's a part of you that
wants to keep going. That remembers what it was like to be your normal self.
		

			The brain gets exhausted and overwhelmed, stuck in some tires and pattern of thought, like a mental
trap.
		

			And it feels horrible. But there is a part of you that isn't ready to give up. You're waiting for
hope.
		

			And that is the part that will get you alive again.
		

			It's very brave of you to listen and watch so far.
		

			So let's come to a solution, a strategy to tackle what you're going through.
		

			Here's what you have to do.
		

			Nothing, nothing, nothing.
		

			Nothing, nothing, nothing. You're stuck in an abnormal and painful and distressing state of mind.
		

			The good thing to know is that these states cannot last that long. If you just let them be
		

			like a passing flu or a cold, it will eventually just leave.
		

			Typically, it will leave within a few weeks. There's a scientific phrase for this. It's called
regression
		

			To the mean, mental health conditions, like other diseases often get better on their own.
		

			It stands to reason
		

			you've survived this far. And you are at the end of the line of 1000s of generations of people who
may have suffered as much worse than yourself. But they survived. And they had children, and they
may not have had any treatment or help, but they still got through how, just by existing
		

			by seeing it through
		

			as unpleasant as it seems, now, you can rest assured that this condition that's got its hold over
you at the moment will lose its power, and it will just leave if you wait it out.
		

			So what do you have to do to get through it?
		

			exists exist, nothing more. Forget needing to do anything else. If you've got to survive on junk
food, and can't even get your life together enough to get a shower, or put some decent clothes on,
that's fine. It really is. Because all of this will pass. As a doctor, I've seen 1000s of people who
survived it, and they just hung on in those darkest moments. They just exist from one second to the
next, from one minute to the next.
		

			Look at it this way, you've survived from the beginning of this video, too, right now, haven't you?
		

			For those of you who have really suffered mentally, you will know what that means. You will know how
hard it feels to just get through from one second to the next.
		

			count this as a success.
		

			Well done. Let's examine the negative thoughts in a bit more detail. Firstly, a lack of
concentration. I mean, even as you're watching this, many of you will feel that you can't keep up.
		

			These words might enter your head and leave. And you might hate it that you can't concentrate.
That's normal. When the brain is struggling, you might want to concentrate more, but the more you
try, the less it happens. So here's a suggestion.
		

			Accept acceptance.
		

			Poor concentration is part of the consequences of having a tired out mind. accept, accept, accept,
accept. Why? Well, let me give you a reason. If you fell over and hurt your hand, you would have
pain and redness as part of the injury, you'd have to accept that. Well, part of the injury when
your brain is struggling is a loss of concentration. It's a symptom. Just like the redness and pain
in your hand,
		

			the lack of concentration in your brain will pass and your concentration will return.
		

			Some of you might struggle with obsessions,
		

			you're thinking about one thing that you did wrong, or you're unable to stop thinking about
something that is distressing.
		

			Maybe you're terrified that you'll become ill, or that you're going to die of poverty, or that
you'll never make a good choice in your life.
		

			It's very scary to think that these thoughts won't go away.
		

			Well, here's what you do.
		

			accept, accept accept.
		

			As strange as that sounds, it has a power.
		

			When you accept something is unpleasant. You accept that it is a symptom and not a fact.
		

			You recognize that you are having a hard time and that it is unpleasant.
		

			When you make peace with the fact that something is unpleasant, it starts losing its power. Because
you're no longer fighting it. You're just letting it be. And when you stop fueling it, it's like a
fire, it loses its heat.
		

			And for those of you who are struggling with accepting it, maybe this will help. Accepting something
doesn't mean you agree with it. Let me give you an example. If there was a storm coming to your
town,
		

			you accept that it is coming and you prepare for it. You might shutter the windows, you might stay
indoors. You're not agreeing with the storm, you may expect that it will damage your crop, that it
might damage your house. You're accepting the reality and the possibilities of it. denying that it
will come and not preparing for it will just cause you more damage. Accept that it will come do your
best to prepare for it. And then let it come and go
		

			mental health problems can often disappear when we just let go of our fear of them.
		

			Let's look at one other thing.
		

			guilt.
		

			For people of faith, this can often be a problem, you feel you're being punished, you feel that your
condition is a sign of your weakness, that perhaps you're losing your faith.
		

			Stop with that belief.
		

			You can pray if you like.
		

			But why would you believe in the nonsense that suggests that you can pray something like this away?
Your poor mind is struggling? Why put an additional load on it? and blame yourself? If you broke
your leg? Could you pray that away?
		

			Of course you couldn't. So what makes you think you can pray away a problem that's happening in your
brain?
		

			For those of us who are Muslims, there are very few situations, you know, when people are excused
from actually praying. One of those situations is for those who are suffering mentally, who are not
themselves. Really think about this. This is what God thinks of mental health conditions, he is so
merciful, that it is one of the very few conditions in which he releases you from the fourth, that
which is mandatory for every human being. Those with mental suffering, are excused from because God
is compassionate. He's saying no, take care of yourself first. And to the rest of us. He's saying,
look after my servant here.
		

			God doesn't excuse those who have broken their legs. He doesn't excuse those with cancer. So now
will you understand that God Himself is telling you to take a break from yourself.
		

			So you might be wondering about the purpose of this condition, whatever you are going through this
darkness, this pain, this distress, why are you in this state?
		

			If you fell and hurt your leg, maybe that was partly your fault, because you didn't wear the right
shoes. But nobody falls deliberately. And it's the same for those who fall into states of mental
distress. It's not their fault fault.
		

			It doesn't matter. The truth is, nobody is perfect. And we can all look at our life choices later
on. But for now, let's forget that just accept and hang on. Focus on this. You are alive, alive,
alive. Some people are born with more proneness to depression because of their genetic accident.
It's not their fault.
		

			Alhamdulillah Look how far we've come. You've already managed to reach the end of this first video
intended specifically for those who are in pain. Thank you for persisting and thank you for
watching. I hope this will help you go on to part two, where we will find even more solutions and
other strategies
		

			was Salaam