I Found Allah in a Psychiatric Ward
They diagnosed me with bipolar disorder at 21. In the chaos, I heard the Quran — and something clicked.
The psych ward at Royal Melbourne Hospital isn’t where most people find God.
Bipolar disorder hit like a truck at 21. During a manic episode, I wandered into the hospital chapel. Someone had left a Quran on the shelf. I opened it randomly.
‘Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear.’
I read it forty times. I still take my medication. I still see my psychiatrist. But I also pray. Prayer alongside treatment — nobody told me that combination was allowed. I wish they had.