Mental Drugs

Introduction

Generally drugs mean something which after consuming them for a lot of time, one gets addicted to it, and after a longer period it becomes difficult for the person to overcome this addiction.

So what are mental drugs? Mental drugs are the drugs which deal with one's habits. If a person gets addicted to a habit too much its not good. Good or bad extreme addiction often do not lead to great results. Some or the other way they harm the person, their lifestyle, relationships, responsibilities etc.

So how does Islam deal with these drugs? Or how do they affect a Muslim?

We'll see this ahead, where we are going to take a few drugs and see their effects on people and how these drugs affect a person's Imaan and  Life.

The mental drugs to be discussed in this blog are :

• Video Games
• Internet
• T.V. Shows

Before we get into details of the examples, we'll make the topic more clearer. So in today's world we are surrounded with the above examples. These things are so much involved in our lives, that our lives look incomplete without these examples. These are widely spread everywhere. 

Instead of doing things which Allah has commanded us, we do these things more than the RIGHT things. We enjoy such activities more than the righteous/religious things. What makes us addicted to these? None other than, Satan. Satan misleads us to these activities so that we get astray on the Path which we have to follow.

Now that we have an idea what these drugs are, lets get into details of how they mislead us, what are their pros and cons.

Video Games

Video Games, many of us play and even enjoy these video games. They are considered to be cool and fun. But did anyone ever wonder how much to they affect our lives?

Playing for a while during leisure is fine, but playing games everyday all long is considered wasting time. We neglect the important responsibilities and duties while playing.

Among all the age groups, Children & Teenagers are more often seen playing video games and they do it often. Today, the popular video games include games which are Violent.

Scientific Researches Say :

A large number of children and teens are playing increasingly violent games. Most youth are able to recognize the difference between reality and fantasy, so they see the games as pointless entertainment. But, some kids get immersed in the violence, which may contribute to a cold-hearted view of other people. It may make them prone to aggressive thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

So as students playing video games does affect our academics a lot.

too much time on any video entertainment takes away from time spent on school work. And this often leads to  low grades and low scores.

What is the appeal of video games that leads some children to become addicted?

The games provide a high level of quick gratification. You are almost constantly being rewarded and, when you lose, you get to easily start over to work on your goal.

Also, often kids that are prone to get excited by violence are often over stimulated by games. They may have an increased reaction to the content of the games when compared to others. Several of the teens responsible for school shootings were highly invested in "first person" games.

Violent Video Games have an affect on the gamers and they often end up committing crimes. Crimes and Murders in schools occur a lot these days.

According to Islam, Murdering people is considered a huge sin.

And playing video games all day long, also sideline the Religious practices: Salah, Reciting Quran, Zikr, etc.

The practices are important for our Imaan. Therefore, addiction to video games sidelines our Faith, responsibilities towards people and life.

Article Regarding Video Games

Internet

With most teens and adolescents, there is a thin line between casual Internet use and addiction. The Internet has become a portal to knowledge and digital adventure for many, but some parents fear the negative effects of the unlimited access to all forms of content. Parents specifically take issue with the easy access their children have to explicit material, and the compulsive behavior that can stem from it. .

Social Effect

Internet addiction can be a significant threat to one's health and social well-being in that it enforces antisocial behavior. The addiction can lead to the inability to communicate in the real world by depriving the addict of the daily practices involved with interpersonal communication. The act of using facial expressions or certain gestures to relay intended emotion or emphasize meaning decline as the addict substitutes keystrokes resembling smiley faces, or avatars. Socially, subjects become more inclined to develop personality disorders in which they identify more with their Internet representation than their real-life persona. Ultimately, an addiction to the Internet can cripple one's ability to maintain a healthy social life.

Addiction Candidates

People who are most susceptible to Internet addiction are teenagers, people who already have anxiety attacks or issues with anxiety, those who have undergone recent trauma that has made them home-bound and less active, people with prior addictions and those with a lack of support from their peers or family. People coping with depression are the biggest candidates to find solace in excessive computer and Internet use.

Why is the Internet so addicting?

Two reasons: information and freedom. People go online to get information (music, news, stock prices, etc). Logging onto the Internet is like a kid going to a toy store; there is so much to do and explore that once you get in, you never want to leave. People also go online because the Internet offers freedom to do whatever they want, to say whatever they want and to be whoever they want.This could have a negative effect since people will act in certain ways and say certain things that they otherwise wouldn't do in real life. Furthermore, because the Internet offers so much freedom, you can find your ideal self much easier, but it's not the same as your social self. The difference is due to you talking to a computer screen and you talking to a real person. Thus, the experiences we encounter on the Internet are not the same as the ones we encounter in real life.

Instead of wasting your time checking the dictionary, encyclopedia or yellow pages, you can just type it up on a search engine like Google and you will get the information instantaneously. With the limitless amount of information and instantaneous speed of acquiring it, the Internet has done an excellent job at bringing the world to its user. For many, however, the Internet is the world. The Internet is so expansive and accessible, we often find ourselves spending countless hours wondering from one website to the next. Along the process we often lose focus on time and reality. Ever heard of the expression: time flies when you're having fun?

That is what happens when we use the Internet. As a result, the Internet cuts out the social interactions of our lives. With the Internet doing so many jobs for us, we have become lazy and non-social. We often ask questions like why go shopping when the Internet can deliver the products to your door or why go the library to research when you can do the same online. We may lose out on being social, but we save a lot of time. However, we spent the time we saved by using the Internet some more. We are easily distracted and side-tracked when online..

How does Internet affect a person's life religiously?

As discussed earlier, wasting time in such activities make you miss you Salah, which is not  considered a good thing. Also, through Internet, people across the world communicate with each other, online, that is something which is not really permissible in Our Religion.  Through social networking websites, people also upload their pictures, video, etc. This specially for Women is not allowed. Women are supposed to have Parda and should not show their faces to the rest of the world. Likewise, many Islamic Laws are violated. Other harmful affects are earlier discussed.

T.V. SHOWS

Many of us love watching TV especially during our free time and if we don't have anything to do. We like watching TV while eating our favorite snacks or hanging around in a friend's place. Either way we are entertained when we watch TV. There are many different programs we can watch on TV depending on our mood and our personality. Some love watching comedy and talk shows while others particularly kids and those who are young at heart love watching cartoons on Cartoon Network or Disney channel.

But then, watching TV has its advantages and disadvantages. Experts say that too much watching of TV especially among children is not good for the health and the mind. TV can be entertaining and informative yet at times it can be damaging and harmful.

Decline In Creativity and Imagination

TV shows including commercials have tendency to share their creative works on us and impart their ideas and opinions on us which is not favorable and can lead to a decline in our creativity and imagination since we can not think on our own since creative stuff are readily available and shared to us.

Health problems

We usually eat junk foods or any of our favorite snacks while watching TV. This is not good for our health because we tend to eat a lot while we are sitting down facing the television. This can lead to obesity since we don't move a lot when we watch TV. This can also lead to other serious ailments caused by eating a lot and moving less.

 Makes people lazy

Most of us get hooked when watching programs of our favorite TV channel. We sometimes even forget to do our work or other important things because we got engaged in the show we are watching. Some people forget to do their household chores because they would rather watch TV than work.

Some shows don't teach good values.

There are TV programs that do not teach good values particularly to children. Instead of teaching them good deeds they even imitate, re-enact or spoof important things happening around us which is not good for children to watch.

How do TV Shows affect religiously?

Addiction to TV Shows means watching them whole day long. We get so interested in watching those shows that we sideline ourselves from the rest of the things happening in the world. We also dont mind delaying or missing our Salah so that we can watch our TV Shows on time. We dont bother about missing Salah, but missiong our Tv Shows bothers us a lot.

Article Reading TV Shows