A review on anticipatory grief and lessons learnt from the history of Abu Bakr r.a.

Grief is defined as ‘the internal experience of a person to the loss of something loved and valued’. It is a normal and expected reaction to loss. While anticipatory grief is defined as ‘an emotional response that is experienced before a true loss’, a concept focusing on that a person might experience grief when the loss of a close loved one was anticipated, but had not yet occurred. The history of Abu Bakr r.a. was reviewed especially from the period of a few months before and recently after the death of the prophet s.a.w. It was noted that he appeared strong while others were down grieving upon the news of the prophet s.a.w.’s death. It was also noted that Abu Bakr r.a. has been grieving when he anticipated that the prophet was going to die. Literatures on anticipatory grief were reviewed. Evidence are conflicting on the role of anticipatory grief. Factors that lead to these differences will be reviewed. The protective factors in Abu Bakr r.a. that helped maintain his composure after the death of prophet Muhammad s.a.w. and later led him to be pledged as the first caliph of the Muslim nation will be discussed

Grief & personal growth: reflection from Quran, hadith and modern medicine

Grief has been defined as the reaction towards loss with typical symptoms including sadness, anger, guilt, yearning, regret, loneliness, numbness and positive feelings related to individual’s personal experience. Grief has been postulated to occur when a safe and secure bond has been threatened. This loss can be an opportunity for personal growth. It is growth that emerges from difficult life events. It may occur during or after the process of grieving. We reviewed three cases related to grief and personal growth. Three cases were described where grief and personal growth were observed. Each case occurred in different situations. These different situations were; an adult child and caregiver of patient with dementia, a widow who loss her husband from drowning, and a cancer survivor who experienced psychological and spiritual growth from the loss and adverse life event. As a comparison three stories taken from the Quran and Hadith were analyzed to reflect on the three case discussions. The Quran and Hadith have mentioned stories of personal growth emerging from difficulties. The completeness of Islamic creed has never neglected the spiritual component in treating medical, physical and psychological illnesses. Islamic spirituality facilitates and enhances personal growth in the aftermath of any physical and psychological tribulations. It is important to merge the spiritual aspects of grief from Islamic perspective, as to aid those suffering from grief to attain personal and spiritual growth

Prevalence and factors associated with intimate partner violence among postpartum women attending government primary health care clinics in Malaysia

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important gender-based, social, and public health problem that affects women worldwide, including women who are pregnant or have recently given birth. Studies have shown that violence against women often increases during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study aims to examine lifetime and past-year prevalence of IPVamong postpartum women in Malaysia, and to determine the socio-demographic as well as husband’s/partner’s behavioral factors associated with IPV exposure. This is a nationwide, cross-sectional and clinic-based study involving a total of 5727 women at 6 to 16 weeks postpartum, who attended randomly selected government health clinics between July to November 2016. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by trained female enumerators based on a pre-validated structured questionnaire, using mobile devices as data collection tools. Chisquared tests and multivariable logistic regressions were used to investigate selected factors associated with IPVexposure. The lifetime and past-year prevalence of any form of IPV among postpartum women were 4.94% (95% CI [3.81,6.39]) and 2.42% (95% CI [1.74,3.35]) respectively, with the highest prevalence being emotional violence, followed by physical and sexual violence. Multivariable analysis showed that husband’s/partner’s behaviors, such as frequent alcohol use, drug use, fighting habits and controlling behaviour were significantly associated with both lifetime and past-year IPV (all p < 0.001 for past-year IPV). These findings suggest that prevention and intervention strategies for IPV should consider the prevention of substance use and reducing controlling behaviors by husband/partner, as well as raising awareness to build healthy relationships through education

MANUAL FOR IBADAH CAMP ORGANIZER A PART OF THE IIUM FLAGSHIP ENTITLED “GENDER DYSPHORIA”

Maknyah or male-to-female transgender are those who transform their identity biologically from male to female through crossdressing and their lifestyle associated with homosexuality. Crossdressing and homosexuality are unlawful in accordance with Islamic practices. Often, these transgenders are associated with being sex workers in major hotspots such as in Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pulau Pinang, Pahang and Sarawak.1 It is estimated that the population size of sex workers in Malaysia in 2018 is 37,000 (22,000 Female Sex Workers and 15,000 Transgender Sex Workers). Despite the reducing number of transgender sex workers in Malaysia (as compared to previous Key Population Estimates in 2010), it is still a concern to Muslims and this trend needs to be relieved promptly

Grief and personal growth: a comparative study of hadith and medicine

Introduction: Grief has been defined as the reaction towards loss with typical symptoms including sadness, anger, guilt, yearning, regret, loneliness, numbness and positive feelings related to individual’s personal experience. Grief has been postulated to occur when a safe and secure bond has been threatened. This loss can be an opportunity for personal growth. It is growth that emerges from difficult life events. It may occur during or after process of grieving. We review three cases related to grief and personal growth. Description of case series: In these three cases, grief and personal growth were observed. Each case occurs in different backgrounds. All three cases presented with episode of grief and subsequently reported personal growth during and after grieving process. In each different situation, which include an adult child and caregiver of patient with dementia, a widow who loss her husband from drowning and a cancer survivor, positive outcome was experienced as personal growth. Discussion: Islam has spoke regarding many stories of personal growth emerging from difficulties. The Prophet (s.a.w.) spoke of a man name Owais Al-Qarnee (r.a.), who took care of his ill mother. He was unknown in this world but had become a known person in Jannah. Moreover, Ummu Salamah (r.a.), whose husband died as a martyr was grieving while she was called for marriage with the Prophet (s.a.w.) and Prophet Ayub (a.s.) who was forebearing and patient with an incurable disease for many years. All these familiar stories from al-hadith have been replicated in recent medical literature. It is important to merge the spiritual aspects of grief and personal growth to understand the concept better and to further apply it in the medical field

Factors associated with quality of life in Huntington’s disease

Introduction:Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects motor function, cognition and the psychological state of HD patients. Its triad of unique symptoms compared to other neurodegenerative disorders might give rise to a higher level of burden for their carers. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with the quality of life in patients with HD. Materials and Method:Eighty-one HD patients and their carers participated in this study. Cognitive impairment was assessed with the Neuropsychiatry Unit Cognitive Assessment Tool (NUCOG), motor disturbances was scored using the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor scale, psychological status of both patient and carer were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress scale (DASS21), behavior of the patient was assessed using Revised Cambridge Behavioural Inventory (CBI-r) and patient's quality of life was assessed with WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Results:Patients' psychological conditions, motor disturbances and behavior of the patient are correlated with low QOL in HD patient. Conclusion:Other than regular motor symptoms, psychological and behaviour of HD assessment should be assessed regularly to ensure the patients having good quality of life

Ketidakmampuan berkelamin selepas perkahwinan: sudut pandangan psikodinamika.

Kes yang dibentangkan berkaitan dengan sepasang suami isteri yang gagal melakukan hubungan seksual untuk beberapa tahun pertama perkahwinan mereka, dan pada tahun-tahun seterusnya sepanjang perkahwinan mereka, mereka hanya mampu melakukannya untuk beberapa kali. Mereka berdua akhirnya berpisah memandangkan masalah seksual mereka berpanjangan yang menyebabkan ketidakharmonian dalam rumahtangga mereka. Walaubagaimana pun, kedua-dua masalah seksual yang dihadapi mereka selesai setelah mereka berkahwin lain. Faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan kegagalan untuk mereka menyelesaikan masalah seksual mereka dan bagaimana kesemua faktor ini memberi kesan ke atas mereka dalam pemilihan pasangan baru dibincangkan dari sudut pandangan psikodinamika

Retrospective review on patients admitted for violent crime in Permai Hospital, Malaysia.

Objective: To study the demographic data of patients and the pattern of crime in the study group, to look at the outcome of assessment by psychiatrist on fitness to plea and insanity at time of offense and to assess association between the nature of crime with presence of psychopathology during the crime. Methods: This is a retrospective study. All available case notes for 342 forensic admissions from January 2007 until March 2010 were reviewed. All related information on 135 patients that committed violent crime was taken for analysis. Results: Majority of patients were male, Malay, single, education up to secondary school and unemployed. Only 38% of patients had encountered psychiatric services, 20% had previous imprisonment and 49% had history of substance usage. In cases involving victims (87%), 64% the victims were known to the patient, 53% had hallucination or delusion or both at the time of crime and 90% was found to have some diagnosis of mental illness after psychiatrist assessment. Only 81% of formal forensic reports were available in the case note and it showed 94% were fit to plea and 82% were at sound mind at the time of offense. Conclusion: Substance abuse had high prevalence among the patient. Almost 2/3 never had any encounter with psychiatric services before the admission. Even with the high percentage of patient diagnosed with mental illness, they were still found to be fit to plea in court and are at sound mind at the time of offense