“I am a young woman in my thirties, and our family is going through a difficult test. My sister, God passed away, as a result of a car accident years ago. At the time, my father was with her, he was driving the car, and he was severely injured and she lost her life. We thank God and are satisfied with His decree, but the problem now is that my mother, despite her religiosity and memorization of the Holy Quran And she attends weekly sessions to memorize the Qur’an, but she is going through a violent psychological crisis after my sister’s death, and she has suicidal tendencies, and she says that her thoughts of suicide insist on her from time to time, even though the death has passed since more than 5 years. ?”

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Dear Reader, We are very sorry for your painful loss and the great test that your family is going through. We thank you for your eagerness to help your mother and get her out of this crisis, that you forgot your own pain and became busy supporting your mother. We are glad that you are aware that the matter requires psychological counseling, as suicidal thoughts require immediate intervention from psychologists, and perhaps what is reassuring in the letter is that she talks about her thoughts, as if she is crying out to save her from them. We do not know how much your mother accepts the idea of ​​resorting to a psychologist, but either of you can resort to the hotline of the General Secretariat for Mental Health for free. The line is available 24 hours a day through the numbers: 08008880700 and 0220816831, or you can talk to the hotline of the Psychological Support Unit in Al-Azhar Al-Sharif to confront thoughts Suicide by No 19906 .

We also conveyed this problem to Dr. Reham Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, a researcher in psychological and educational counseling at Cairo University. She said that the despair that your mother feels, which prompts her to think of suicide, is a side effect of the difficult situation she was exposed to with the death of your sister, may God Almighty have mercy on her, which made her enter into a long and latent stage. From depression, which made these obsessions and negative thoughts come to her from time to time.

And I tell you, my dear, that suicidal thoughts have nothing to do with your mother’s degree of religiosity, as much as it is a psychological symptom that requires treatment and follow-up. Likewise, the family has a great role to play in supporting and providing psychological support to her, through the following:

I advise you to refer your mother to a psychiatrist, especially since her condition may require medical treatment. You should also follow up with your mother, as the depressed patient suffers from some withdrawal behaviors and severe changes, such as withdrawal from the family environment and the desire to isolate.

You should also give her the opportunity to express her thoughts and fears. Talking about her desire to commit suicide may help her to be free from these thoughts and obsessions somewhat. In addition to psychological and pharmacological treatment, there are strategies called self-care strategies, which the patient does with the help of his family to get out of this dark tunnel, such as advising your mother when these negative thoughts come to her, to distract the mind by going to the house of one of her friends, communicating with the family and asking for help and support . She also has to tame these obsessions and thoughts through exercise that increases the dopamine hormone, which is the hormone responsible for feeling happy and works to fight depression, whether by walking, hiking, traveling and working to build new relationships with others.

You should also be careful to provide a safe environment for your mother so that she is not near dangerous medications or high places, which could increase the risk of her succumbing to these deadly thoughts. She must also participate in group psychological support groups who share the same ideas and experiences, and thus make it easier for her to overcome this crisis.