Fasting in Ramadan can promote psychological well-being. There are numerous research studies making this case. But how does that work, exactly? How could refraining from food during daylight hours improve well-being? As a psychologist, and having fasted during Ramadan for more than two decades, I think I can provide some insights into the possible mechanisms of action.
My first experience fasting during Ramadan came when I was in college. I was not a Muslim at the time, but most of my close friends were. They didn't appear to be particularly religious outside of Ramadan. Still, when the holy month rolled around, they dropped their bad habits and kept the daytime fast. Their transformation impressed me, and it was with a mixture of solidarity and curiosity that I decided to join them.
I found fasting difficult at first, but it helped that my friends and I were in it together. The fasting got easier as the month went on and eventually, there was a feeling of being at ease with the emptiness and a sense of mastery and self-discipline. Just as important, I also saw the positive behavioural impacts that fasting had on us in different ways. One friend was calmer and more reflective, another was able to kick bad habits, and all of us became closer.
Shortly after my dummy-run, I became a Muslim. The next time Ramadan rolled around, I was immersed in the real deal, the complete package: fasting, reading the Quran, having night prayers and more. It was transformative and character building and quite unlike anything else I had ever experienced.
Over the years, I have noticed many similarities between Ramadan and the ideas being promoted by psychologists and psychotherapists. For example, the well-being benefits of the holy month are highly resonant with the Social Comparison Theory. This idea suggests that our self-image and self-evaluations are shaped by comparing ourselves with others.
When we evaluate ourselves against one another – and we do – we tend to make "upward" or "downward" comparisons. Upward comparisons – focusing on people who are, for example, more intelligent, more attractive and wealthier – can leave us feeling inadequate. Unsurprisingly, the tendency to make frequent upward social comparisons is predictive of depression.
By contrast, downward comparison – focusing on people who have less – leaves us feeling fortunate. For example, fasting can focus the mind on food poverty, famine victims and those who regularly experience thirst and hunger even after the sunsets. Such downward social comparisons make some of us more grateful for what we have. Gratitude frequently leads to pro-social behaviours (for example, charitable giving) aimed at relieving the suffering of others.
The idea that gratitude is good for mental health has been well established. Gratitude is a pleasant and powerful social emotion – a gateway emotion that opens the door to other pleasant emotions, such as joy, contentment and excitement. A study published in the neuroscience journal Cerebral Cortex identified links between the experience of gratitude and the neurochemical dopamine, also known as the “pleasure hormone”. Simply pondering the question, "What am I grateful for?" increased dopamine, even if the question was left unanswered.
Comment from The National
Anyone who has ever broken a difficult day-long fast will know that overwhelming sense of gratitude that occurs as they savour the first sip of a drink or bite of food. Even plain old, precious water tastes delightful. Gratitude is undoubtedly one of Ramadan's greatest gifts.
Ramadan is not just about fasting, though; it is also a month of additional Quranic recitation and reading.
Another obvious way the holy month promotes psychological well-being lies in the actual content of the Quran. Islam's sacred scripture covers areas as diverse as dietary practice, inheritance law, eschatology (the part of theology concerned with death and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind), and everything in between. However, throughout the text, repeated attention is given to major psychological themes such as patience, forgiveness, acceptance and hope. For many, the Quran provides the ultimate form of bibliotherapy – using the written word to promote mental health.
A final aspect of Ramadan that helps promote psychological well-being must be the shared nature of the experience.
More than a billion other people are engaged in the same activity, leading to a strong sense of social identity and belonging. Research has underscored the importance of social identity and belonging in promoting well-being and recovery. This "belonging effect" has become widely known as the "social cure". Essentially this is the idea that strengthening social identity (for example, joining a club or playing a team sport) can accelerate illness recovery, promote resilience and reduce relapse.
There are numerous studies supporting the well-being benefits of social identity and belonging. The findings suggest that the more profound the sense of belonging to a valued social group, the better the outcomes are for various physical and mental health conditions, including depression.
Ramadan, however, is not a panacea. Mental illness prevention and psychological well-being promotion are not the holy month's objectives. They are simply welcome by-products – what we call highly desirable epiphenomena. The actual benefits of Ramadan are, of course, spiritual and the approaching last 10 days and nights of the holy month are a great time for these to be realised.
Korean Film Festival 2019 line-up
Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
On Your Wedding Day, June 27 at 7pm
The Great Battle, June 27 at 9pm
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, June 28 at 4pm
Romang, June 28 at 6pm
Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission, June 28 at 8pm
Underdog, June 29 at 2pm
Nearby Sky, June 29 at 4pm
A Resistance, June 29 at 6pm
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
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Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
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Formula One top 10 drivers' standings after Japan
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 234
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 192
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 148
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 111
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 82
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 65
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 34
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
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Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
How to increase your savings
- Have a plan for your savings.
- Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
- Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
- It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings.
- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
