Hope, the way and the results.

 

Hope

Hope, a four letter word that describes a feeling . Yet , it carries such a strong meaning.  Hope can define life and death in many cases .

With hope , we as individuals have the ability to fight and stay strong. Withhope comes resilience, and the ability to endure and conquer any challenges that we face . It is the energy that feeds our passion and our aspirations.

With hope

Lack of feeling hopeful and not having the ability to look beyond the current situation can cause individuals to become depressed and live a life that is full of sadness and despair. The inability to have hope can lead some individuals to voluntarily end their lives.

hope can help many individuals overcome depression

The instilling of hope can help many individuals overcome depression and enjoy their life . It can make us overcome the tragedies of the last few weeks , be it the hurricanes , the earthquake, the Vegas shooting or the fires burning in California. It is hope that drives us to clean up after the storm and walk past the scene of the shooting and rebuild the houses that were destroyed. It is the hope that we never have to endure this again , the hope that tomorrow will be a better day and that life will continue to bring us joy that allows us to do fight and prevail .

Hope heals the broken hearts and the hurtful pain , reminding us that we are strong and prevail. Install some hope in your heart and in the hearts of others and make every day a beautiful day .


Huda Abuasi Psy.D LCPC
708-254-0575
Life is about choices , choose wisely !

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Tomorrow isn't promised

 

Tomorrow isn't promised

Is a phrase I often use to convey how important it is to enjoy and live the moment. At any time, our lives can change forever, we might lose loved ones, lose our home, our wealth or even our life. What seems under our control one minute is gone and out of our control the next minute. 

These past few weeks we saw two perfect examples of this. The first being hurricane Harvey and the second bring hurricane Irma. Some people lost everything, their clothes, their cars, their homes and even their jobs. Luckily not many lives were lost. However, lives as people knew them changed forever. 

Imagine yourself at this moment living in your home, with your family sitting around you, all your beautiful belongings and your precious items that you have gathered all your life. You’re getting ready to end your day and your planning to go to work tomorrow to your job and drive in your car, you smile to yourself and realize how lucky you are to have the things that you do. 

Suddenly all that you have is swept away by a powerful storm or hurricane. The rain and wind wipe it all away. All that you have accomplished, all that you have accumulated all those years is washed away before your eyes. You are left with the clothes on your back and nothing else. At first you are grateful that you and your family survived but then the shock of what has occurred freezes you in your place. 

There is no home to go to, no bed to sleep in and not even a job to show up to. You blink to make sure it's not a dream and realize that it's a nightmare and it's real. Your basic needs of food and shelter are not even met. 

Unfortunately, this happened to hundreds of people in the last few weeks. People like you and me. The hurricanes did not pick and choose, they did not discriminate. They treated all of their victims equally. They took from the weak and the strong.  They didn't look at race, religion or gender.  They didn't care if you were rich or poor. They hit everyone the same. They didn't punish a particular religion and reward another. Whether you were Muslim, Christian or Jewish, you were treated with the same wrath. They didn't choose which states they hit based on the people or their actions. They didn't hit those that were bad or good . They hit everything in their path equally the same. 

These tragic events devastated many but fortunately showed that humanity still prevails. People of all different religions and races united to help the cause. Mosques, synagogues, and churches alike opened up their doors. Money and items were collected by all.  Out of a tragic event, we as a human race stood strong. 

Learn to enjoy each moment and treasure what you have, you never know when it will be gone. Live today and each day as though it's your last. Live, love and laugh and don't make promises you don't intend to keep or say words you can't take back. Try to end your day on a positive note with little regret. Remember to live your day to the fullest because tomorrow might not be yours. 

Dr. Huda Abuasi

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Defining and understanding depression

    

Depression is one of the three most common mental disorders in the world affecting more than 300 million people of all ages worldwide and is the leading cause of illness and disability worldwide (WHO, 2017). It affects approximately one in three people and is twice as common in women as men (WHO, 2017).

Depression occurs relatively equally in people of all ages, ethnicities, education, Social Economic Status (SES), marital status, and backgrounds (WHO, 2007). An individual experiencing a depressive episode frequently presents with a very sad mood, which affects all areas of life including family, work, school, personal relationships, and physical health; as well as an inability to experience any pleasure in any activities. A depressed person may also experience poor concentration, poor memory, inability to function in daily activities, and in severe cases symptoms of psychosis, and thoughts of death or suicide. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide, and as high as 15% of those who suffer from acute depression die from suicide (WHO, 2017). Approximately 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds.

There are multiple theories of what causes depression that range from the biological, cognitive, spiritual and social. Depression can result from one or an interaction of all of the above. For example, if an individual is impacted by a health condition and is unable to function at work or at home it can lead to loss of career, loss of finances and impact mood and cognitive functioning. In addition, there are many health conditions that are interrelated to depression. Conditions such as hypothyroidism and cardiovascular disease can lead to depression. From a social perspective, adverse life events can lead to depression. Events such as a loss of a loved one, loss of employment, loss of finances or experiencing psychological trauma may lead to depression. Depression can, in turn, lead to more stress and dysfunction and worsen the affected person’s life situation and depression itself.

In upcoming articles, different types of depression and treatment options will be discussed.

Dr. Huda Abuasi

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