WORKING THROUGH ONE'S DEPRESSION

During one of my morning news updates in the internet, I chanced upon an article about some possible common reactions of victims of the recent typhoon like depression, anger, shock, and guilt, so I made a leisurely research about one that took my fancy- depression. I consulted our very very old family book, Reader's Digest Family Health Guide and Medical Encyclopedia, which had often times saved me in the past from going to libraries when I wanted to find out answers to personal simple medical questions. I want to share my readings which might help those suspected of having depressed feelings.

Depression is defined as that state of feeling dejected or dispirited. It is most likely to occur at critical or unsettled times in life; in the adolescent years, during pregnancy, shortly after giving birth to a child, at menopause, or in the later years. It may be triggered by the death of a loved one or a profound disappointment.

What are the common symptoms of depression? A depressed person tends to have a bleak, pessimistic outlook on his future and to be apathetic toward activities he formerly regarded as meaningful. He may complain of constant fatigue or exhibit a variety of physical complaints, usually minor in character or difficult to identify. The individual may lose all interest in sex activity. He may no longer have an appetite for food, with a resulting sharp loss in weight; or he may overeat compulsively. Sleeping difficulties and fits of weeping are common.

How can we help a depressed person? Getting a depressed person to talk out his problem is often helpful. Although the listener should lend an understanding ear, it is a mistake to be over-sympathetic; encouraging the individual to feel pity for himself may do more harm than good. It might be pointed out to the depressed person that the situation is best met in a realistic, unemotional way. The individual should be assisted to recognize his own value and make the most of his resources. A doctor can prescribe medicines to fight depression, called antidepressant, and to help the depressed person sleep if he has difficulty in doing so. When the condition is very severe, a psychiatrist should be consulted.

It is not neurotic to be unhappy or depressed under certain circumstances, for example, when a loved one dies, or when one has divorced, or has lost a job or as in the various problems of the recent victims as aftermaths of typhoon Ondoy. Different people with different problems react differently in handling their own depressions. Well-adjusted people can 'work-through" their grief and disappointment so that they can resume their activities and reestablish their social contacts within a reasonable short period of time. Whereas, poorly-adjusted people feel helpless; their low self-esteem convinces them they can never cope. These people need medical attention.

Doctors usually prescribe antidepressant- a substance that has the effect of bringing people out of deep depression. It, of course, doesn't correct emotional condition but only temporarily relieves the acute feeling of depression. Amphetamines or pep pills have sedative effect to be taken only as prescribed by a doctor or the person may become dependent upon them.

If we really want to help our brothers in need of attention and care, a good kind of literature for their readings can be of great help. Readers, of course, are enjoined to verify what they read for their own protection. When in doubt, proper authorities are the best references.

IN OUR OWN BIG AND SMALL WAYS

"The crowds asked John the Baptist, 'What should we do?' He said, 'Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." Luke 3:10-18.

I've posted here few days ago an appeal for immediate help for our fellow countrymen, the Filipinos, who suffered a life-and-death trial of their lives from the fury of typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). It was a decision made on instinct. When I saw on TV those gruesome scenes of how Ondoy, packed with strong winds and heavy downpour, mercilessly lashed on everything on its path- buildings, houses, tress, plants, animals, pedestrians, vehicles, infrastructures and more- I decided that I must do something. Out of my own helplessness, I switched on my netbook to see more. My heart went out to people I knew not but my brothers in Christ, who needed help. I prayed in silence.

Quickly, after learning about what was happening quite enough, I started to click my blog, but nothing came out of it due to an unspeakable fear. How were my relatives living in Manila where the typhoon was raging? I assured my self to believe they were fine. Suddenly Sis Lina called up to inform me that she and Edna who are living in Antipolo and Cainta, respectively, were experiencing flood for the first time since they built their houses there. I also thought of my daughter and our other relatives in those typhoon-hit places like Quezon City. The rest now becomes part of a harrowing experience for me, my family, and relatives.

Prayers really move miracles to happen. My kinship were spared from the tragedy. Whatever reasons were there, only our God Almighty knows. In times of overwhelming events, good or bad, prayers provide me strength. I continue praying for people still in haze as to what happened and why must these things happen to them. I had suffered great losses in the course of my life, too. However due to the magnitude of our people's sufferings I don't know if I can really relate with them. As I saw on TV the victims, especially the survivors, relating their ordeal in tears, my heart went out to them, I cried. How can they be so strong to tell between sobs how they lost a whole family despite efforts to hold them together- all eight of them? How do we comfort the people, dirt and grief written all over their faces, crying out for food? I know I was not mistaken for posting that appeal for support- whatever support.

What should we do for the least of our brothers? Without a house, a home, a family to return to, they need us to help them start again. It warms my heart seeing people from all walks of life, people spared from the tragedy, volunteering to help. Other nations great and small are doing their part for humanity, sending support to our government in distress. Shiploads, truckloads of relief goods and even manpower come pouring in and mounting as days go by. This is one very rare occasion when good intentions rise against evil. I don't mean that evil deeds are not happening, they still are, but they are dwarfed today by the looks of it.

International aids and support are not meant forever. Let us not wait for those days when other nations have nothing more to spare. We must stand as one in this country and share with our own blood brothers in our own big and small ways. Today the victims need only the barest of necessities- food, clothing, shelter, money to start from scratch again. When the limelight clicks out, I can't imagine how our unfortunate brothers can live again.

Twenty five provinces need attention, so do the others. In these times of global economic crisis, our government is already bleeding dry. We need to help, a long lasting support is what our people need. Let's make a plan to find our links to our needy brothers. For example, in schools, teachers may encourage their students to give a little part of their daily "baon" (allowance). The parents may be asked to chip in small shares too, like rice, canned goods, soap, candles, clothes, anything. The president herself and her cabinet pledged two months of their salaries amounting to billions in cash. We can take similar actions in our own little ways, too. Whatever we can pull together, we approach our parishes and ask for their endorsement of our little shares. I know that this time all organizations like the Rotary, Innerwheel and Rotaract Clubs, the Jaycees, the Lions Club, support groups in the communities, apostolates in churches, to name a few, are always there to help. My late husband and I were once active Rotarian and Innerwheeler and we experienced going out to the Mt. Pinatubo eruption victims in Pampanga where we had organization links. That tragedy was too much but this new one is extremely devastating. Private citizens who are well-to-do- owners of businesses, OFW's, artists, and everybody are already moving. Let's go find these links to our brothers in need. Let's share because we care. God bless us all. His message is clear. Let us love one another as Christ loves us.

Photo by IRRI images

AN APPEAL FOR ONDOY VICTIMS: Philippines

Tropical storm "Ondoy", (International name, Ketsana) tore through Northern Philippines Saturday, September 26, 2009, with a heavy downpour of more than a month of rain of 16.7 inches (42.4 centimeters) in only 12 hours, that submerged Metropolitan Manila, and broke the record of 13.2 inches(33.4) within 24 hours in June, 1967, according to chief government weather forecaster, Nathaniel Cruz, then roared across the main Northern Luzon islands toward the China Sea Sunday. Ondoy wrecked havoc to 25 provinces, the first ever widest land area struck and in that number.(Philstar, Sunday 27).

Since day 1, I was either in front of my TV set or on line at my yahoo e-mail, in my desperate attempt to contact my siblings, especially Edna, whose place, a subdivision at Cainta, Rizal, was one of the worst hit. The electric power was obviously cut off and signals from either Smart or Globe cell sites were also out. Our sister who lives nearest to her place is Sis Lina from Antipolo who learned that early on, flood waters entered Edna's house for the first time. Then at around 4:00pm Saturday, September 26, she lost contact with her both by landline or mobile phone. As I waited for news I was hooked on my netbook and TV for news. The scenes were scary, my heart went out to the people being carried away by the flood on top of what remained from their hpouse- the rooftop made of galvanized iron and wood. They were waving, shouting for help now, and then submerged into the rushing flood waters and were gone. People on top of a bridge who tried to help them by throwing rope in their directions failed. That scene was horrifying!

Day 2, Sunday, a grieving man-survivor, who was one of those riding that rooftop, was on TV relating his harrowing experience. He was with his wife, two children, both young girls, his mother, a cousin, and other relatives. When he went adrift and was rescued, he plucked his dead mother out of the waters. He was separated from his wife and children without any news about them. More and more typhoon victims started to be shown the night of Saturday in the internet and on TV. Pangasinan, our province, is 5- hour bus ride to Metro Manila, and yet we felt the threatening strong winds although it was quite our luck because the winds hit high and brought minimal downpour only despite storm signal # 2. How much more for those directly hit by the storm? TV footages showed houses made of light materials kept rolling with cars, buses, trees, animals, and debris. The more sturdy houses are half-submerged or are shown with just the rooftops with residents marooned on them desperately waving for help. What was pitiful were the children being plucked out from the waters muddy and dead. Drenched survivors looking for their family members plodded the waist-high or neck-high flood waters. Rescue teams of soldiers on rubber boats, and helicopters and civilians eager to help with any means possible were shown encountering difficulties because of the rushing muddy waters and rolling debris. I became more jittery as I called up my other brothers and sisters if they were all right. But I was more concerned with our relatives based in Manila, my own daughter Kit, too. I learned that she braved the storm Saturday morning to buy her necessities like foodstuff.

Day 3, Sunday, Ondoy was out of China Sea toward Vietnam passing through our province Pangasinan. That early morning at 6:00 when flood waters subsided in some parts of Rizal province and roads were passable, my other sister who lives in Antipolo, Rizal, braved the still hazardous roads to Cainta with husband Ging to checkup on Edna's. It was then that I was able to let out a sigh of relief, when they called me up to report that Edna, her husband Pol, and son JP were okay. Thank God, their house only suffered from ankle-deep flood waters that rushed inside their house flooding the living room and the kitchen. They are very lucky that their house stands on that higher place at Gate 2 of Brookside. It was Gate 1, two street corners away that was impossible to reach by rescuers until this day, Sunday. Most of the houses there were submerged to the rooftops. I learned too, that my nephew Mon had one of his vehicles, a van, half-submerged in the flood but was also okay. He is also lucky to be on higher grounds in that heavily flooded part of Quezon City. His sister Tet who plodded the flood waters from her office for about 4 hours ( she left her van in their office parking area) was able to return home to her three kids. She was feverish when she joined the many pedestrians stranded along the roads home. Lissa and son JM were accommodated by the occupants at the third floor of their boarding house for safety, too. Cleaning house will be difficult for my affected relatives but our blessings is that they are all alive and safe.

Landslides in several provinces buried families, in embrace when found. People stranded in their own homes drowned. Dead bodies were found everywhere, especially on riverbanks, along canals, some hanging on trees, burried in the mud from the landslide, floating in the flooldwaters and almost anywhere. Families who got separated from their loved ones on flight or in their washed out or buried houses cried for help to locate them only to find out that their loved ones' dead bodies were sighted elsewhere. The worst is until this day, most are missing. Those who returned to their houses found them covered with mud, destroying all that was inside. All these are clear on TV footages. Everywhere you look, the wrath of typhoon "Ondoy" is clear.

Our fallen brothers, my Filipino countrymen, need help. Thousands and thousands of the poor victims have no houses to return to. As of this posting, the number of people affected is said to be nearly 400,000 and counting. Some 100,000 people are now housed in about 150 school buildings, churches, malls, and other evacuation centers. The dead join the living in evacuation centers, waiting for the flood to subside. Where they were to be buried would be surely a problem, too. Our government officials and even concerned civilians are one in trying to help rescue, retrieve, and distribute relief goods to the victims anywhere. The National Disaster Coordinating Council secretary called even malls and shopping complex services to offer spaces for the thousands of people drenched in rain and mud. From the way the rescue and retrieval operations and even the distribution of relief goods are being handled, it indicates all to one thing, everybody is unprepared for this great disaster.

News had it that Demi Moore and other international celebrities hit the cyberspace bringing world attention to the beleaguered Philippines. Quickly, international aid comes pouring in. The United States and United Nations responded with food, water, and other relief goods in the wake of the massive flooding initially reported in the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal, where the towns of San Mateo, Cainta, and Taytay were worst affected. ABS-CBN and GMA TV networks are among those actively involved in the relief operations at the same time that they receive aids locally and all over the world for distribution. The rehabilitation of the affected provinces will take a great task but the de-briefing and rehab of the victims themselves will take a lifetime. We are all brothers, aren't we?Our unfortunate brethren need help.

Photo by IRRI images