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Addicted to Drugs & Suffering from Insomnia

04 January, 2017
Q For the past two months, I’ve been plagued by insomnia (or what I believe to be insomnia; not diagnosed) every waking second I’m breathing on this earth. And this is really bad. I’m only sleeping two hours a day, maybe sometimes three, and then crashing on the sixth or seventh day sleeping around eight hours. I’ve also been abusing a lot of drugs lately. To be fair, I only do take drugs maybe twice a week as it helps me fall asleep some times, but it doesn’t seem to work anymore. I also do cocaine to be social at school. When high on it, I’m talking for hours about anything to anyone. It makes me people want to be around me. It’s wonderful. It’s pure bliss. I personally believe if I could fix this dreadful insomnia that I won’t need to abuse drugs. When I’ve slept for 8 hours, I’m completely different. I’m social, open and happy. When deprived of sleep, I can’t concentrate at all (I quite literally lose focus in basic conversations), I hate everything, and so forth. I can’t go to the doctors because my mom thinks I’m just lazy and thinks I’m using my sleep deprivation as an excuse. Essentially… nothing works. Exercising doesn’t work. I have a tight schedule. I eat healthy, drink lots of water. But I still want to kill myself from the sleep deprivation every single waking hour on this planet. Please help. I want to be happy and social and able to sleep without drugs.

Answer

Answer:

As-Salamu ‘Alaikum,

I am truly sorry to hear what you are going through.

Insomnia is a common problem people experience for various reasons, sometimes either chronically or occasionally. However, insomnia is not your problem. Your abuse of drugs is, and the insomnia is most likely a side effect of the drug abuse. When you start to withdraw from cocaine, you can experience moodiness, irritability, sleeplessness, or too much sleep, agitation, nightmares, agitation, fatigue, and slowed psycho-motor movements. These symptoms can occur after heavy and prolonged cocaine usage and develop within hours or days of abruptly stopping.  As I do not know if you are having other symptoms as your main concern appears to be insomnia, please do make a list of what you have been experiencing besides insomnia.

You stated that you do cocaine which makes you happier and more social. This signifies a serious problem as you are counting on drugs to make you feel good rather than addressing your issues through counseling or Islamic guidelines. I am not sure how long you have been doing drugs, or how much you do daily/weekly. I do know, however, that cocaine is highly addictive, and if you want to stop it, if you want the insomnia to go away, you must take some serious steps towards addressing your addiction to cocaine.

From your question I guess you are probably doing a lot of cocaine. The effects of the cocaine on your body are serious. Insomnia should be the least of your worries. Cocaine raises blood pressure, causes irregular heartbeat among other dangerous physical repercussions on your body. Do you realize you could have a heart attack or stroke and suddenly die? Did you know that snorting cocaine raises your risk of a stroke by 700% for 24 hours after you snorted it?

As you can see, insomnia is not your main problem. You are playing a dangerous game just to “feel good” or mask your insecurities. Is the possibility of death really worth it? As a Muslim, you should know that pork and alcohol are haram as they are bad for our health. I am sure you avoid it, yes? Then what would make you think Allah (swt), who created your body, mind and spirit, would be okay with you destroying the body He (swt) made – with cocaine?

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I kindly suggest that you contact your local substance abuse center for counseling and possibly admission to a hospital for stabilization and treatment. I implore you to get help as soon as possible.  You are in a dangerous place right now. Also, seek out Allah’s (swt) mercy, forgiveness, and healing through prayer, reading Qur’an and truly seeking a closeness with The Most High (swt).

Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an:

“O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.” (5:90)

As we can see, not only are you destroying your body and risking death, but you are committing a grave sin. I understand this is not your intention. I am so sorry you got caught up in drugs, I can only imagine the pain you must have felt emotionally to go to such extreme levels to bury it. I beg you to please get help immediately. This is not a problem that will just go away by itself; you will need professional help to overcome your addiction and you may possible need medical intervention now to save your life.

In addition to what you are going through, I am sure your family, friends and other loved ones are impacted by your drug use. Additionally, in treatment, any pre-existing mental health disorders such as depression and others will also be addressed. Therefore, when seeking treatment for addiction, therapists cover an array of issues.

According to the NIH “Those who provide treatment for cocaine use should recognize that drug addiction is a complex disease involving changes in the brain as well as a wide range of social, familial, and other environmental factors; therefore, treatment of cocaine addiction must address this broad context as well as any other co-occurring mental disorders that require additional behavioral or pharmacological interventions.”

Therefore, expect an intensive treatment program which will, in sha’ Allah, set you free from the problems you have been suffering from now. It will take courage, it will take time. It may be an emotionally painful process for a while as your mind and body re-adjusts to being drug free. However, as you heal, you will, in sha’ Allah, gain new coping skills, a new outlook on life as well as a renewed relationship with Allah (swt). 

I have full confidence that, in sha’ Allah, you will grasp the seriousness of where you are in life right now. I pray that you love yourself, your family and friends enough and most importantly your Lord (swt) to save yourself and seek treatment now. We never know when Allah (swt) will take us back to Him (swt), and we all pray our return will be one in which we are in compliance with His commands as we seek to please Allah (swt) who is most High. In His mercy, I urge you to seek solace, forgiveness, love and the strength to save your life.

You are in our prayers. Please let us know how you are doing.

Salam,

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About Aisha Mohammad
Aisha has a PhD in psychology, an MS in public health and a PsyD. Aisha worked as a Counselor/Psychologist for 12 years at Geneva B. Scruggs Community Health Care Center in New York. She has worked with clients with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, panic disorder, trauma, and OCD. She also facilitated support groups and provided specialized services for victims of domestic violence, HIV positive individuals, as well youth/teen issues. Aisha is certified in Mindfulness, Trauma Informed Care, Behavioral Management, Restorative Justice/ Healing Circles, Conflict Resolution, Mediation, and Confidentiality & Security. Aisha is also a Certified Life Coach, and Relationship Workshop facilitator. Aisha has a part-time Life Coaching practice in which she integrates the educational concepts of stress reduction, mindfulness, introspection, empowerment, self love and acceptance and spirituality to create a holistic healing journey for clients. Aisha is also a part of several organizations that advocates for prisoner rights/reentry, social & food justice, as well as advocating for an end to oppression & racism. In her spare time, Aisha enjoys her family, photography, nature, martial arts classes, Islamic studies, volunteering/charity work, as well as working on her book and spoken word projects.