Mental Health App Friendly for Muslims | Mindful Muslim

In today's post, I would like to share with you some serious situations where mental health has been very taken very lightly, especially in Malaysia. Coming from a family with a medical background, I must say that in Malaysia, we don't normalize emotions, stress, and anxiety as much as we should. Usually, we are just told to shake it off as it's proclaimed to be a temporary emotion that we have to deal with personally, but I do believe that when we are experiencing feelings that relate back to mental health, it should be observed and given attention to. 

Since we can't depend on the human society in Malaysia as much since we are not brought up to express these mental illnesses, it may be hard to control these feelings, thus for today's topic, I would like to share with you an app that would help you manage your mental health that is also in compliance with the Islamic theories. I present to you the Mindful Muslim, which has been founded by Mohd Akhtaar, who had a mission to inspire Mental Health amongst Muslims. 

Introduction on Mindful Muslim

The Mindful Muslim was founded by Mohd Akhtaar who is now based in New Zealand, and he realized that there is a serious awareness that needs to be given attention to, which is basically the lack of attention on mental health amongst Muslims. Being in line with this statement, I would have to agree that this statement is very true. Personally being brought up in a mixed background family, I would have to admit that I grew up in a lot of stress when it comes to differentiating culture and religion. It's very hard to talk to anyone about this topic, as we all have different paths in life, and usually, if I seek guidance, I would be told to look deeper into religion. 

Of course, religion always has a peaceful essence where you can find peace, but since I was not entirely brought up to be extremely religious, I do struggle in finding ways to understand certain verses and interpreting them into life's context. With that being said, there was no platform for me to really manage my mental health at the time (especially when I was younger) and of course the comfort of guidance to be a better Muslim by managing mental health the right way. Thankfully, when I found out about Mindful Muslim, I had to applause for the amazing conceptual app that would actually help the community and real people who are struggling with mental stress. Did I also mention that the app currently is the market leader in the mental health segment?

How it started

The Mindful Muslim App actually won the grand prize in the XChallenge Tech Start-Up Competition in New Zealand and has received an investment offer of USD $1.6 million to further build out the app and translate the app. With the funds being there to grow the app, even more, you can expect that the app would be a revolution for Muslims who would like to manage their mental health. With an aim to support Muslims facing stress, anxiety, and depression, I truly believe that having this platform with communities to educate on the importance of mental health, would definitely reduce the rates of suicide due to stress and loneliness, and also nurture users of the app to be better individuals.

Mental Health X Covid

I would have to highlight that due to this pandemic taking over everyone's sanity, there are some people here who are struggling with the stress of being retrenched and also the environment of working from home with the paycheck being cut due to the loss of profitability of the company. In this case, other than the awareness of how important is hygiene and SOP's are, I would say that mental health has been overlooked in Malaysia. With the stress of financial income, not being able to go out to enjoy the sun, and the total lockdown of staying indoors for weeks, has anyone really took a moment to look into the mental health of what these people are facing?  

The app has gained thousands of users within less than a year and I can pretty much see why it's growing really well. Just a little teaser on what you can expect from the app, you can expect that the app would provide you some surah's, dua, ruqyah and also give you stories of prophets that conclude with moral values to help build your mental strength in understanding the challenges in life. With the funds from the Start-Up Competition, the app is looking to be translated to be more user-friendly for users in Malaysia (and for the rest of the world) who would prefer the app to be available in different languages. 

My User Experience

The minute I found out about the app, I just had to check the app out myself. In case youre wondering about my impression of the app, I would say that I wished this app existed way earlier in my life. Thinking back on all the stress I had to go through on my own, I would have to say that this app is perfect in possibly guiding me through understanding my mental health concerns while helping me to manage my mental health when im facing stress and anxiety. Honestly, I would have to share that ever since I become a mother, postpartum was one thing I struggled dealing with, and the anxiety of being unsure if i would be able to be a perfect mother to bring up a small human being who depends entirely on me to guide her in life. I wanted to be perfect for her, and ocassionally I still do experience insomnia at night with all the worries of how will I teach her about life. 

As you enter the app you will be able to choose your preferred setting of having a playlist that you can custom to your needs. You can select your choice of dua's options, ruqyah according to your needs to manage your mental health (examples would be: Sleep, punishing the jim, protection, anxiety and more), in which it will open up a list of ruqyah's that would be related to your custom choice. There's also a night Quran where you can listen to before you go to bed to give you peace of mind before you doze off as well!

My favourite feature of the app would be the background sounds where you can choose either sound of river streams, gentle rains, dessert nights, and more, to accompany your custom guided talk-down for the day. The talk down features topics on Anxiety, Belief, Understanding Allah, Sustenance, Miracles, Managing Anger, and more. Once you have created your playlist accordingly, you're then ready to sit back and relax as you listen to a combination of dua's and talks to help you end your day at ease. When I had my first time experience on the app, i dozed off pretty well, and had a really good sleep after listening to my playlist, and trust me when I say I've been having problems with sleep the past few weeks. 

I've been using the free version and i would have to say alhamdulillah that it did help me have positive thoughts in mind to strive through the day without feeling depressed. Alternatively, if you LOVE the app, be sure to subscribe to the app to unlock all the features of the app. It's a good investment if you are struggling with emotional pain and mental stress, and im already tempted to subscribe for me as well. I've been recording my sleep diary and so far, I've seen my thoughts being more relaxed and blessed with what Allah has provided for me. I think I'll leave my thoughts on Mindful Muslim here and let you download the app yourself to have your very own first-hand experience to understand what I mean. Remember, when you need help, there are always ways to find solutions if you look a little harder. Syukur Alhamdullilah.

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