Philosophize to ease suffering

During these days of social unrest, mass dismissals and sky- rocketing prices, I believe that a bit of philosophy might tide us over the present difficulties. For example, I heard from a relative of mine that unemployment claimed the lives of two bank employees who were suddenly laid off.

One of them suffered a stroke and died not long afterward and the other one was suddenly afflicted with deep depression, also with a fatal result. It seems to me that unemployment is also haunting people in other parts of the world.

Foreign magazines have reported that the recession in other Asian countries drove laid off workers to commit suicide. If those people could only have philosophized that there is hope, so long as there is life, they need not have felt hopeless and taken their own lives.

Instead of mourning the fate that befalls one, especially those whose shops were looted/vandalized -- and burned into the bargain -- hopelessness could turn into severe depression which can be dangerous. It would be better to start from scratch, no matter how difficult it might be for most people. This is not wishful thinking on my part because I myself have experienced how hard it is to do so. Almost half a century ago, I came from a small town in East Java with only the shirt on my back, so to speak, no earthly possessions, a stranded secondary education, no financial backers and not even a place I could claim as my own.

Nevertheless, hard work, diligent study after office hours and, above all, my steadfast belief in the guiding hand of the Almighty, have made me what I am now. A law-abiding citizen, with a roof over his head which does not leak when it rains and three children who enjoyed a tertiary education.

For riot victims, the most important thing is to avoid stress (mental stress), to be able to console themselves with the thought that they are not alone in this tragedy, and to consider this terrible experience as a natural calamity.

For a rape victim, the most difficult thing is that she has to live with a horrible image. The following might be of small consolation to them, but it might have a soothing effect for them to know that four American churchwomen were abused and killed by soldiers in El Salvador (Newsweek, June 29, 1998).

In such cases, the most important but difficult thing to do is for the helpers -- relatives and psychologists -- to revive these women's will to live, to convince them that they are useful citizens. And last but not least, they should pray to the Almighty for guidance during their difficult hours.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta