going badoodles

I stayed for two weeks in the psych ward in the year 1999 not because i needed medical intervention, but because it was part of my on the job training.

The memories of those days flashed like fresh experiences when i watched the Reporter’s Notebook in GMA 7 last night. It is quite alarming to note that there are more and more psychiatric cases in the country and only 10 hospitals and 400 Psychiatrists to address their special needs.

What alarms me more is the fact that we are living in a conservative society where not all families are brave and willing to admit the fact that one of their members is in need of psychiatric treatment.  And if they do admit this and bring their kin to the hospital, tendency is that they are left in the hospital even when they are fit to live in the normal society.

It is heartbreaking to note that some families believe that the “albularyo” can somehow drive the evil spirits away or like an ordinary fever, it will soon go away.

A very primitive way of curing mental disorder has been known throughout the ages as trephining.  This is the process where a small hole is created in the skull, believing that it is through this hole that the spirit that inhabits the persons body will eventually be set free.

With the emergence of new technology and the advancement in science in the modern day, other means of treatment that is not too harsh has been devised.

The sad part about it all is that despite the available means of securing their welfare, government hospitals are lingering with the problem of lack of budget and support from the society at large. With the prevailing poverty amongst our people, those who have mental illnesses would rather invest whatever budget they have for food rather than for medicine. Thus, more of these persons are left at home either tied to the wall like some wild animal or kept behind bars as if being mentally ill has become a heinous crime.

Despite however the lack of budget and proper sanitary measures, it is also a known fact that there is no lwa in the country that protects their welfare.  Although it is stated in the revised penal code that a person who is mentally ill at the time of the commission of the crime is presumed not guilty, it is still a very shallow provision and does not say much about the rights and protection that covers them.

We see them in our midst everyday.  There is 1 of them out of every 10 persons in this country. They have become that way because of circumstances in their life that is not beyond their control, yet they receive the painful judgment and the inhumane treatment from the normal persons surrounding them.

Being in close contact with them for two weeks, i have learned that these are persons just like you and me who have loved and want to be loved in return. In their heart is the desire to be accepted by the normal society and to be a part of a happy and meaningful human existence.

On a lighter note and just a trivia from the past… Badoodles and I had our first date at the Psych Ward in the province. It was a part of his school requirement while i was just there to accompany him and make pa cute.