DNL’s Speech during the Convention of the Philippine Association of
Psychiatrists on October 13, 2005 at the Bohol Tropics Resort, Tagbilaran City.
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| ``Dancing To A Different Tune`` |
According to Winston Churchill, the greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right
sometimes.
I agree with Churchill. In a generation when people are losing their heads in increasing numbers,
it is a reassuring thought that we can expect fools to be right on certain occasions. After all,
the same can be said of the rest of us.
To people who have decided to make a career out of helping people get back on track, that should
not come as a surprise. There is a streak of foolishness in the best of us. As most people
believe, only a very thin line separates the genius from the madman.
I feel a sense of triumph as I stand before you tonight. After all, it is not everyday that I get
this chance to hobnob with the unsung heroes who are tasked with the thankless task of bringing
back people who have gone over to a different world. And while they are as lovable as any
individual with a unique mindset, it takes more than just the right amount of concern and
compassion to make a career out of that.
This is perhaps the reason why so many people are intimidated with psychiatry. It is a big word
that conjectures images of the insane, the mentally ill and the fool.
And so while more and more Filipinos are taking a long hard look at the field of medicine called
nursing, few actually even consider taking up psychiatry, much less practice it as a profession.
Of course, you all know that the nursing has become a global profession. By global, I mean the
message that you get when you look at the circle formed by the thumb and the forefinger.
That you have chosen to practice your profession despite the fact that psychiatry does not pay
much, at least by Philippine standards, convinced me that each one of you is indeed an unsung
hero.
To me, psychiatry is a labor of love that seeks to overcome the boundaries of bias, prejudice and
ridicule that so-called normal people hold for those you seek to restore. Just the thought of
entering a strange world that the eyes cannot see and the hands cannot touch is not one’s idea of
fun. More than just courage and intellect, it requires only a caring heart.
And yet, I cannot miss the irony. Who is worse? One whom society labels a madman because he laughs
at himself excessively or a corrupt government official who laughs all the way to bank?
I wonder who is worse: a fool who talks to himself or a politician who quotes extensively from
memory while absconding taxes paid out of hard-earned money?
Indeed, who is worse: one who is perpetually deep in thought or those whose waking hours are spent
plotting their next swindling operation?
Who is worse between those who wipe mud and dirt on their bodies or those who harm and kill simply
because they believe they have power over lesser mortals?
Without a doubt, you are dealing with far more honorable human beings than many so-called sane
individuals who are far more dangerous to humanity. I believe many of them snapped because they
are disillusioned with an increasingly inhuman and immoral world. Many of them could no longer
take the hypocrisy, the injustice and the brutality that they see all around them.
It is no easy task to bring them back. I do not wish to be a parachute psychiatrist, who, after
reading a few books or articles about psychiatry, immediately assumes knowledge, or worse,
expertise. I would rather assume that it is going to be a long and complicated task to nurse each
patient back.
I must implore you however to do everything you can to accomplish the task. I do believe that each
human being you work with has the potential to be a positive contribution to society simply
because he or she has the heart that continues to be troubled and bothered by the sufferings and
pain around him or her. If I may say so, that human being you are working with just might have the
potential for greatness that most of us are not capable of.
Allow me to make a confession. Losing four successive elections and having to deal not only with
the ridicules, the insults and the scorn but ending up with little else nearly caused me to lose
my mind.
While my siblings and peers have quietly built families and fortunes that qualify them as success
stories, I felt like a wreck. I was angry with myself and with society. That I managed to hold on
to my sanity, I give credit to the mental toughness that life’s failures taught me and, of course,
the constant prayers of a loving mother.
As you yourselves must have experienced, many people can no longer tell between you and your
patients. To them, you have become just like those you nurse back to good health. Do not let such
ignorance discourage you or hold you back. If you allow the blind to lead the way, you will fall
into the ditch.
Just because people don’t understand what you do doesn’t mean they are right. Just because the
ignorant compose the majority doesn’t mean they should prevail. If Noah had listened to all those
who mocked him, it would have been the end of the human race.
On the contrary, much of the advances of the human race had to go through cynicism, distrust,
suspicion and ignorance. As you must have experienced, nothing much has changed. Do not listen to
those who jeer on the sidelines. Listen to the music that you hear because you are dancing to a
different beat. Those who dance are thought to be quite insane by those who cannot hear the music.
Once again, allow me to salute your heroism. More power to all of you! |
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