Thoughts of a young doctor LOVE IS BEST MEDICINE FOR MENTAL PATIENTS

By Josa Bernadette Piñol

(Note: It is not that she is my daughter, but young medical intern JB Piñol is proving to be a very good writer. A month ago, a Facebook post of her open letter to Human Rights chief Etta Rosales in relation to her verbal attack against Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte gained almost 2-million readers. Today, I read her post about drugs and mental illness which so is interesting I decided to share it with readers of this page. When she finally becomes a full-fledged member of the medical profession just like her older sister Dr. Maria Krista Piñol-Solis, I believe JB will be a very good medical writer. Manny Piñol)

What I learned from Psychiatry:

1. Drug abuse is a BIG problem in the Philippines. In the clinics, about 50% of the mental cases that need to be admitted are due to drug use, namely amphetamine (shabu). Totoo ang mga sinasabi nila. Drugs will destroy you from the inside out. The damage from drugs will stay for life. Don’t try it, not even once.

2. We know when you’re just faking to be “baliw”. Yep. Thankfully we have a set of assessment tests which can be helpful in distinguishing the truly insane from the Oscar nominees.

3. Mental Illness is not very different from Diabetes or HPN. It is a lifetime disease. What we can do is just control the symptoms by the medications. Para siyang bulkan. A volcano will always be a volcano. But it can be active or dormant. Ginagawang “dormant” ng gamot ang symptoms ng isang mental patient.

4. Mental illness is not the end of the world. Just because you’re diagnosed, doesn’t mean you’re paralyzed. You can still go back to work, go back to school, get married, find a job, have a family, etc. As long as umiinom ng gamot everyday and nag fo follow-up checkup, there’s nothing you can’t do. An example of this is John Nash, a brilliant Nobel Prize winning physicist and a diagnosed schizophrenic. Isinapelikula yung buhay niya sa film na, “A Beautiful Mind”.

5. Mental patients are just like you and me. They’re still your parent, your sibling, your spouse, your child. Hindi nawala yung mga alaala nila. Hindi nawala yung pagmamahal nila sayo. Hindi nawala yung mga pangarap nila sa buhay. Natatabunan lang for now yun ng sakit nila. Recovery is not just the responsibility of the medications. It’s the responsibility of the family. A mental patient’s best inspiration is his/her family. Don’t give up on them. Love is the best medicine.

(Photo caption: Young medical intern Josa Bernadette Piñol at the peak of Mt. Apo during a climb last summer.)