The Philippine Daily Inquirer in their 12 January 2010 issue in the health section stated that in a latest survey conducted, three out of ten government employees have mental health problems and one or two of them were possible suicidal.
They reported that the most common of mental health problems are depression and anxiety disorder which is not to be confused by sadness due to loss or separation of loved ones.
They also reported that similar surveys conducted in the previous years showed almost the same result adding that less formal education and those in difficult family situations triggers the same.
Dr. Tante Delia of the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) said that professional help, medication or psycho-therapy is needed. Likewise, Dr. Edgardo Tolentino Jr., also of PPA, said that nationwide survey is being planned to be able to get a bigger picture of the mental health among Filipinos, claiming that Filipinos are anxious people. However, he also noted how Filipinos use humor as a coping mechanism during times of disaster and national upheavals.
Currently, The Philippine Psychiatric Association is advocating the congress to pass a mental health bill focusing on how to strengthen and institutionalize the services for mental health care.
Why is it that when you think you did something good, there is still this somebody who will pull you down and look for the wrong thing behind that good act, as if there is any? It is sad to know that there are really people who are not contented with the good things happening around them and still look for that “something” that will ruin everything — ruin a day…a relationship…a person…a life.
Though at times, experience and other events may change a person’s behavior, belief or stand in certain things, I believe that every person is innate good. One may act against his or her will or may also act willingly and intentionally on different matters in different situations…it all actually depends on how one appreciates the things that are happening around him or her.
Our appreciation on things, on situations, and on the views of others, and on how we react to them, mirrors our personality. And thru this, we show our true color to the world.
Though it is also correct to assume that we can do what will make us happy and say what we feel is right, still we must think first before we act and speak… for actions when made may cause to destroy other lives; and words when spoken, cannot be taken back. Both may either make or break a person. So we must be careful, because we will never know when it is us that are being pulled down.We must always remember that we can still enjoy life and do the things we pleases even if we consider the feelings of others…it is just a matter of being selfless.
As the year 2009 ends its chapter…I would like to share some thoughts of how my year had been.
Many things have happened, and there are so much learning and experience that I know I will cherish for a lifetime. I can say that 2009 was quite a year for me. The bar examination was a major event for me which I can say is my eye-opener about how my life will be…I have realized through that exam, that one can be really stressed and sensitive. It was my first time to really cry hard and feel crazy because of stress (which I thought can be cured by a stress-reliever medicine).I also realized that a lot of people care about me despite the craziness I did. =) That it was not just an ordinary exam but an experience that can make or break a person for a long time. With that 5-month review, I am blessed to have a very supportive parents, relatives and friends. God is so good.
I am also privilege to find a good work after the bar. Right now, I am glad where I am. I am experiencing the reality of life, learning from it…and loving it.
Though there were also some troubles and little frustrations along the way, I am glad to have encountered them all. For if not, I will not be this strong and positive. Life is exciting and more colorful because of these hardships. The crosses that I carried were challenges that eventually became my learning which tested my faith to our Lord. He is always with us…guiding our way for us to unfold our mission in life.
As I welcome 2010, I know that there will be more learnings, experiences and challenges that will come along the way. But I know also that I will, as long as I am capable, carry and live up the memories and learning I have encountered in the previous year for a better, exciting and colorful years to come.
During my college days, in one of my English class, we were asked to deliver a speech which we have to memorize and recite in front of the whole class. It was considered as our final exam and I remembered getting a grade of 91 because of it. It’s amazing that i just found the copy of it in one of my files as I was cleaning my stuff…it was a combination of two different view on how learning is acquired. Let me share my speech with you. Here it goes…
Do you think there is such thing as enough? I mean, enough in everything that a person experiences and acquires…Well then, I believe that in the essence of learning– enough has and will never have space at that. Let me put it this way…as I have run thru several books about learning i found out that there can be two ways of learning. My Favorite authors, Robert Fulghum and John Holt have different perception on how learning is acquire in everyday life.
Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top or the graduate mountain but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned: share everything. Play Fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before your eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balance life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together. Be aware of wonders. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really know how or why, but we are like that.
Gold fish and hamsters and white mice and even little seed in the plastic cup — they all die. So do we.
And remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The golden rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living
Think of what a better world it would be if we all -the whole world- had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is true, no matter how old we are, when you go out into the world, it is better to hold hands and stick together. Aha! All i ever really need to know I learned in kindergarten. But wait, isn’t it that We learn by doing?
Not many years ago i begun to play the cello. Most people would say that what I am doing is “learning to play” the cello. But this words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exist two very different processes. (1) learning to play the cello and (2) playing the cello. They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it, at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second. In short, I will go on “learning to play” until i have ” learned to play” and then I will begin to play. Of course, this is nonsense. There are no two processes, but one. We learn to so do something by doing it. There is no other way.
Therefore, one should never forget that learning develops a person holistically. So, spoon feeding versus experience. These are your choices. Take your pick. It doesn’t have to be the one or another. Maybe it can be both.
I was just two and a half years old during the 1986 EDSA Revolution. If I were old enough at that time, I would have been part of that historical moment for sure because I know what she fought for then, and what she continues to fight for until her death, was also for me and the future generations of Filipinos.
I have learned a great deal about due process, freedom and liberty as a law student and it would have been different perhaps if President Cory did not fight for our democratic institutions.
Every bar candidate would know that every minute of the month of August should be devoted to study for the bar examinations. But I did not care. I took my time off and lined up for three long hours last night in La Salle Greenhills because I want to pay my last respect to a great woman and a great Filipino. It’s a small sacrifice to pay in her honor and as an expression of my gratitude for her selflessness just to make our society free. She is truly not only an icon of democracy but also of peace and justice.
It’s wonderful feeling to be a Filipino and I am proud to be a Filipino because of President Cory. I am sure she would always live in my heart every time I think about what I have to do for my beloved country.
While we may have lost her here on earth, I am sure though that she is heaven’s gain.
The last time I made a post in this blog was in February. After which I became busy with my final examinations, my graduation and right after, my bar review. I realized I have been in hibernation from activities that do not involve my preparations for the bar examinations. I do not know whether it is good or bad. But one thing is certain, I am trying my very best to give this bar review my best shot.
After 105 days from now, I know I will have all the time in the world to catch up with friends and relatives to make up for the lost time. Just bear with me.
Recently, I got an email saying that everyone has a personality of a cartoon character.
The email said that a group of investigators got together and analyzed the personalities of well-known and modern cartoon characters and translated the information gathered into this test.
I think this is fun so I am sharing the test for you to find out which character do you most resemble.
Simply answer all the ten questions below and total all your points found next opposite your response.
1. Which one of the following describes your perfect date? (a) candlelight dinner (4 pts.); (b) fun-theme park (2 pts.); (c) painting in the park (5 pts); (d) rock concert (1 pt.); (e) going to the movies (3 pts.).
2. What is your favorite type of music? (a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.); (b) Alternative (1 pt.); (c) Soft Rock (4 pts.); (d) Country (5 pts.); (e) Pop (3 pts.).
3. What type of movies do you prefer? (a) comedy (2 pts.); (b) horror (1 pt.); (c) musical (3 pts.); (d) romance (4 pts.); (e) documentary (5 pts.).
4. Which one of these occupations would you choose if you only could choose one of these? (a) waiter (4 pts.); (b) professional sports player (5 pts.); (c) teacher (3 pts.); (d) police (2 pts.); (e) cashier (1 pt).
5. What do you do during your spare time? (a) exercise (5 pts.); (b) read (4 pts.); (c) watch television (2 pts.); (d) listen to music (1 pt.); (e) sleep (3 pts.).
6. Which one of the following colors do you like best? (a) yellow (1 pt.); (b) white (5 pts.); (c) sky blue (3 pts); (d) dark blue (2 pts.); (e) red (4 pts.).
7. What do you prefer to eat? (a) snow (3 pts.); (b) pizza (2 pts.); (c) sushi (1 pt.); (d) pasta (4 pts.); (e) salad (5 pts.).
8. What is your favorite holiday? (a) Halloween(1 pt.); (b) Christmas (3 pts.); (c) New Year (2 pts.); (d) Valentine’s Day (4 pts.); (e) Thanksgiving Day (5 pts.).
9. If you could go to one of these places which one would it be? (a) Paris (4 pts); (b) Spain (5 pts); (c) Las Vegas (1 pt); (d) Hawaii (4 pts); (e) Hollywood (3 pts).
10. With which of the following would you prefer to spend time with? (a) someone smart (5 pts.); (b) someone attractive (2 pts.); (c) someone who likes to party (1 pt.); (d) someone who always has fun (3 pts.); (e) someone very sentimental (4 pts.).
Now simply add up your total points and find out your cartoon personality by matching your total score by clicking HERE.
I personally took the test and my personality resembles Sponge Bob Square Pants.
If there is one thing I am proud being a Filipino is that ingrained psyche of endurance, persistence and sense of optimism to face every adversity as they come. Whether the world is in a global crisis or the country is in deep political turmoil, life seemingly goes on normally in this country as if nothing is wrong. A Filipino is always a survivor.
Personally, I am also raising my bar of hope that the coming year would be a better year for me, my family, my loved ones, my friends, my colleagues, and my countrymen, in general, particularly in terms of peace, prosperity, happiness, and health. Of course, hope is not enough. Hope without any positive action would just be a mere broken dream.
I am glad that our calendar system has beginning and an end. I could not imagine what human psychology would be when we all have to live our lives in one continuum from birth to death.
I wish all of you, as I wish myself, all the best in 2009. And let us not forget to thank our Creator for a brand new year.
It is beyond dispute that Jesus Christ is the most popular, the most remembered, and the greatest man that ever lived in this world. And in a few hours, particularly at the stroke of midnight, families, at least in the Filipino tradition, will gather to partake some food and exchange some gifts to celebrate his birthday, centuries after being born quietly in a manger.
We all know what Christmas means and it may mean differently for different people. If I am to describe what Christmas means to me in one word, I would say it is “love”. The birth of Christ is all about giving love. We may actually do away with the trappings and symbols of Christmas. But certainly, expressions of love - reunions, gift-giving and hugs and kisses - to celebrate the spirit of the season are something I or we cannot do without.
The lyrics of tghe old song of Jackson 5 ”Give Love on Christmas Day“ captures my sentinment about Christmas:
“Why don’t you give love on Christmas Day?
The man on the street and the couple upstairs
All need to know there’s someone who cares.
Give love on Christmas Day
No greater gift is there than love.
What the world needs is love
Yes, the world needs more love.”
During the Christmas Party of the Information Technology Center of the Arellano University School of Law last 15 December 2008, I experienced a special feeling of love during the gift-giving activity to the streets children of Pasay City. And that special feeling turned more profound after visiting the SOS Children’s Village in my home province in Banay-Banay, Lipa City, Batangas last 22 December 2008 to handover the gifts contributed by the law classes of Prof. Jimmy Soriano. I am delighted to know that there are women like the SOS Mothers, who are there to dedicate a good part of their lives for the love of the orphaned, abandoned and neglected children under their care.
Like Jesus Christ, love is universal and springs eternal in the hearts of men. We all need to love and be loved. That’s probably why Jesus lives and would continue to live in our hearts.
This Christmas, let us not forget to give love to our loved ones and to those who need it. I did.
I wish you all a blessed Christmas with much love to give.
