The morning after

Happy Easter! Today we rise to a new dawn full of hope in the promise of Easter.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a reason to live a good life. It gives us the opportunity to start all over again.

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Summer has set in. After the Holy Week, I started listing down the fiestas I can attend and my plan for summer. I look forward to our colorful summer traditions and of course to the summer break. Many folks seem to be island hopping these days. Browsing through the pictures of family and friends in Facebook, I can see how everyone is having fun. As they say, it is truly more fun in the Philippines this time of year.

But how can it be more fun in a country that has been recently ranked the most dangerous place for environmental activists in Asia, and third worldwide based on Global Witness’ latest report called “Deadly Environment”? Environment and land protection has led to the death of 67 in the country, with two missing and presumed dead between 2002 and 2013. The report said that those who were killed in the Philippines opposed illegal logging, waste dumping, expansion of biofuel plantation, and construction of hydroelectric hydrofuel dams. I am appalled to know that only two perpetrators so far have been put to jail. It seems that there are still many of them out there enjoying freedom for their crimes.

Global Witness blames the country’s weak justice system and law enforcement. The 28-page report claims that a number of environment protection-related deaths were masterminded by state officials and the military, contracting gun-for-hire tandem to execute the extrajudicial killings. I wonder what the government has to say about this.

It is this human frailty, this weakness in character and morals that have resulted in endless corrupt practices committed by those who have vowed to serve the people with dignity and not with greed. So, what else is new?

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Apart from countless senseless loss of lives, there is one more silent killer in our midst. If we do not do something about this now, we will continue to lose lives, destroy families and relationships. I am referring to depression.

A close family friend, who is now, in his own words, ‘just casually involved in mental health problems’ still wonders about a report that stated Filipinos are among the happiest people in the world. Having been absorbed in the study of depression in which he worked with some of the country’s leading psychiatrists, he has good reason to wonder and assert the truth that we are the least happy people in the whole of South East Asia and rank below the 100 really happiest countries worldwide.

A Facebook group (Get Real Philippines) once posted, it may not really be “More Fun in the Philippines” with reference to the most disguised emotional state of Filipinos. According to a 2011 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Philippines has the highest incidence of depression in South East Asia. This being the case, I think there is reason to consider depression more seriously.

Depression is that great sadness that affects a huge segment of the world’s population. It may be defined as an illness that involves the body, mind, mood and thoughts. Its disrupting impact affects the way sufferers eat, sleep, feel about themselves, think about things, everything. It affects the spirit and the soul and they may well be right. As a matter of fact, depression is considered a major cause of suicide.

Every year millions suffer from clinical depression all over the world. What is even more worrying is that those ignorant of what it is often go untreated because they do not recognize its many symptoms. When a person is depressed, he feels sad for weeks, months or years. He loses his instinctive ability to be happy and experience joy; loses motivation, energy and most of the pleasures of everyday life. This can happen to anyone regardless of sex, age, race, creed or socio-economic grouping. WHO reports that depression is now the second most prevalent, rapidly spreading condition affecting humanity and the most disabling.

Jeannie Goulbourn, mother of a young girl who committed suicide resulting from depression, and our family friend, Ricardo Soler, realizing these, formed five years ago the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation with the single mission of informing and educating as many people as possible – and as much as possible – about depression. Natasha, after whom the foundation was named, was Jeannie’s beautiful daughter who killed herself during a critical episode of clinical depression.

The foundation has done wonderfully well its advocacy of disseminating information about the condition. It has held seminars nationwide and in Hong Kong, where it had a dramatic but exhausting meeting with over 500 OFW domestic helpers, the majority of who were sufferers who learned that not all was lost for them. This is something particularly important since OFW domestic helpers have a very high rate of depression and concomitant suicide that is often misreported as an accidental fall from a balcony while picking up the laundry.

Internationally renowned medical health professionals often take part in its lectures. Dr. David Spiegel, considered as one of the top psychiatrists in America and head of Stanford University’s psychiatric disorders center gave five foundation seminars in Manila and Cebu to professional medical health practitioners and the public. The foundation now has a crisis prevention call center giving free confidential support to callers needing help – often just somebody to talk to. The detailed handbook for the operations of the center and its responders was drafted by eminent psychiatrists Cornelio Banaag and Eleanor Ronquillo and clinical psychologist Honey Carandang. It was written in final form, collated and edited by Ricardo Soler, who transformed the material into a handbook from which I cull the following abstract for the information of readers.

The manual points out four steps to understand and get help for depression. The first of these is to look for signs of depression in you. The second step is to understand that depression is a real illness just as diabetes is but involves the brain as well as the body. It is feeling “down” and “low” and “hopeless” for weeks at a time. The third step is to see a doctor or a health provider. Don’t wait. There are also information and intervention services, which help depressives by having one-on-one telephone conversations between the depressive calling and a trained center respondent. The last step is to get treatment for your condition. There are two common types of treatment for depression: psychotherapy and medicine. Ask your doctor or qualified health professional which type is best for you. Depression can be treated and you can feel better.

The cause of depression is not fully known. Most likely, depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. One out of every five individuals will eventually experience a major depressive episode during their lifetime. In 2004, the Philippines had 4,570,810 reported cases of depression. The number of unreported cases is worrisome. I hope our Department of Health will consider this a major health issue so that we can save more lives.