Professor
Chong Siow Ann, 53 who is the Vice- Chairman of the Medical Board (Research) at
the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and a senior consultant psychiatrist there,
wrote a commentary last Friday 7th August 2015 on the power virtue
of love that can help persons suffering from schizophrenia recover and even
excel in life. I am responding to that
commentary in this letter based on my life experience in caring, loving and
providing unconditional love to my late wife– Doris Lau Siew Lang.
Unconditional love vital in the recovery of
mental disorders
Support
and understanding from the community and more importantly, unconditional love
from family members are vital in the recovery of persons trying to cope with
schizophrenia (“Tender loving care the best treatment for schizophrenia; Friday
6 August; The Straits Times).
Through
the many public education talks which I give periodically, I still find that
there a lot of misconceptions of schizophrenia – even among the highly educated
as many still believe that persons with schizophrenia have split personality
when in fact, it is the splitting of the mind that causes sufferers to
experience hallucinations and believe that people are trying to harm them. This is why it is absolutely necessary to
continue with such public education talks – to reach out to all sectors of the
population – because generally people fear what they do not understand.
It is
terribly depressing to see a loved go through relapses of schizophrenia and
having seen first-hand how my late wife went through 12 relapses of this brain
disease, I was often helpless. But
through my 40-year journey in caring for her until her passing last year, I
have learnt that medication compliance formed only 50 percent of her
recovery. The other 50 percent that
brought her to normal self was the powerful virtue of love, coupled with lots
of patience and understanding.
With undying love from family
and friends Mathematical genius John Nash and Prof Sakes were also able to
recover from schizophrenia and go on to excel in life, contributing as useful
citizens in society.
That said, I encourage all
caregivers who are managing loved ones suffering from schizophrenia or other mental
disorders to learn as much as they can on mental illness and put into practise
the virtues of love and understanding even though the illness can often test
one’s patience. But always bear in mind
that ultimately, love conquers all.
Raymond Anthony Fernando
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