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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Social anxiety probs... |
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| Anonymous |
| 10/30/02 at 23:36:14 |
| Assalamu alaikum i hope i will not scare anyone. i am in need of some advices. i have social anxiety disorder(rather an extreme from,not a mild one),and suffer from panic attacks. i want to go to graduate school,but i am having second thoughts about applying,because graduate school has a social aspect to it,that is not always present at the undergraduate level. it is more than just reading books. you have to meet professors,and if you do some research,you will probably be in a group,where you will have to meet with other members of that group and converse. My main problem is that because of the social anxiety disorder,i just cannot engage in a conversation.it is so grave that sometimes i feel like i should learn sign language,and pretend to be a mute person. it will be extremely difficult to present a paper at a seminar,for example,because i will probably experience panic attacks,stutter,tremble,etc. One solutiuon would be to take medications for my conditions.Unfortunately,many of these medications contain haram ingredients. After reading some fatwa online,i have the impression that it would be haram for me to take medications with these haram ingredients since my condition is not life threatening.I think these medications would greatly help me,but i don't know if it would be halal for me to consume them. there is different scenarios i am thinking about: 1)i could avoid going to graduate school,and so avoid consuming these haram medications,and just accept the Qadr of Allah(swt). Maybe Allah(swt) does not want me to go to graduate school. 2)But then what would i do? my condition would probably prevent me from taking a job,since with any job i might take,i would have to communicate with clients or co-workers. i would probably be fired for seeming so anti-social.unless i take a job that does not involve too much social interaction. 3) i could work with my father,and avoid the social interactions of other jobs,but then i am afraid the business would not be 100% halal. But it would resolve the issue of taking haram medications. it seems whatever decision i take would involve haram things(unless i can find a job where i do not have to communicate much).this disorder is really even affecting my iman,because i cannot go to the masjid as i want to, for example,for fear of having to socialize with the brothers.i have to stay alone,and sometimes it keeps me depressed.Now that i think about it,i am depressed more often than not,and i probably won't marry,which is incresing my social anxiety disorder.if i can take halal medications, then i would rather go to graduate school. Can you give me any suggestion as to what to do? do you know if taking medications with haram medications would be a case of necessity for my condition? Or maybe someone in the board knows some alternative medicine that are halal. Jazakum Allah khairan for any sugeestion |
| Re: Social anxiety probs... |
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| se7en |
| 10/31/02 at 00:00:06 |
| wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatAllah dear brother or sister, Most of the time when a scholar gives a ruling or fatwa, it is in response to a specific situation a person is facing. Sometimes these rulings change, depending on the circumstances. Even if this medicine you are taking has haram ingredients, if it is necessary for you to live a healthy life, and for you to take care of yourself, it may be something that is allowed for you and halal in your case! I think it is *very* important for you to find out if this is true, before making any decisions. I think, before anything else, you should get a ruling on your specific situation.. maybe by an imam in your area that you trust, or even one of the fatwa websites if that's not possible. May Allah help you and make things easy for you :) take care! wasalaamu alaykum, se7en :-) |
| 10/31/02 at 00:04:17 |
| se7en |
| Re: Social anxiety probs... |
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| jannah |
| 10/31/02 at 00:17:52 |
| [slm] One of things we learn in abnormal psych is the defining line between a normal problem and a disorder. One of the differences is that a disorder affects your every day life in a detrimental way. And this certainly sounds like that, if not more. I think first of all you should go straight to an Imam or knowledgable person and discuss the issue of the medicine you're going to take. Now I'm not sure what would be in the medicine that is haram? alcohol? pork? animal byproducts?? Anyway get a fatwa from a legal scholar and don't make your own legal fatwa. Secondly if you can or can not take medication you should at least be seeing a counselor because it's not right just to let this take over your life. Counselors can help you understand the causes of your anxiety, help train you to deal with it, help you to even cure it in cases. I mean psychology is not just dr. freud sitting there with a notebook, modern psychology is a science now and designed to help people with these exact things! Ok anyway just some thoughts. May Allah help guide you to what is best. |
| Re: Social anxiety probs... |
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| Asim |
| 10/31/02 at 11:19:35 |
| Assalaamu alaikum, Although I don't know your situation well, I will still suggest that you give graduate school serious consideration. At graduate schools there is more flexiblity. You can choose your courses, schedule, professors, and friends. Depending on the field and work (usually as research associate), it is possible that you could have little to no significant interations with others. Moreover, if you go to a decent sized school they will have trained ppl to counsel and help students with their disorders and disabilities. My experience is that less social interation is required in graduate school than as an undergrad (this is from the sciences working as research associate). You can at least apply. There is no harm in that :) Regarding the medicines, do consult a scholar or imaam. Also, there are jobs that require little or no interation. Make a list of such jobs and actively search for them. Although it might appear hard, remember that you only need one opening, and Allah (swt) can provide that at any time. Finally, I would advice that you don't close off any option. Keep all of them open and active. Allah will guide you to the right one, inshallah. Wasalaam. P.S. Don't forget the power of duas. |
| 10/31/02 at 11:23:49 |
| Asim |
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