“Baliw nga ba? O binaliw siya ng mga kadenang nakagapos sa kanya.

” This is what Kara David stated in

her documentary that stuck in our minds. Chains must be used to control insane individuals. Is this the
sole remedy for mentally ill people? Are there no other ways to prevent them from being chained? Do
they deserve this kind of fate? Mental disorders, specifically schizophrenia and depressive psychosis,
affect a person’s physical, mental, and emotional state. These thinking disorders are a lifetime illness that
involves delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that don't exist), unusual
physical behavior, and disorganized thinking and speech. In the documentary, most of those who
experience this kind of mental disorder are being tied up with chains and isolated from the world
because of the fear that they might harm others, and because of their unusual physical behavior when
they become aggressive. Some families don’t seem to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation
because first, they lack the funds to take their children to the doctor and second, there were no
psychiatrists in their locality who can treat them. So, their family only resorts to chaining and hiding
them as if they had a contagious disease without taking into account their feelings, allowing them to lose
their sanity for good. As a result, their family had no choice but to accept their fate and give up on the idea
that they would ever return to being a normal person. This is such a pitiful situation they are in. Those
who suffered from mental illnesses in the documentary were hungry for freedom, freedom from being
chained and freedom from the illness that has been consuming them, and yet even their families could
not afford the freedom that they wanted. Those people are living in fear and in darkness, and sadly, they
will forever be chained with their fears, anxieties, and traumas along with the harsh reality that there is
no one who could cure nor treat them. 
Watching the documentary makes us sad and makes us want to feel sorry for them because those
mentally ill people appeared helpless and hopeless as if they had already accepted their life as it is.  
Because of their poor condition they don’t have the capacity to seek professional help. And because they
are in a remote area, there was no psychiatrist that could come to their aid. Moreover, at that time, there
was no government support or financial aid for these individuals which made us frustrated. However, we
were impressed by how Kara David reached out to these people and came at their aid. They traveled from
Manila to Leyte just to help them, to inspire others, and to open the eyes and hearts of the people and
government to these kinds of people specially in faraway places through her documentary. I agree when
Kara David says having one mentally ill person in a family is not only a family’s problem but it is the
problem of society as a whole. 

According to the psychiatrist in the documentary, shackling or tying those people with schizophrenia
with chains could make their mental state worse and worse everyday wherein they are being triggered
by fear. And with that, t
They are yearning and in need of medical treatment and are hoping that they will get treated.
The people who went through
Those people are living in fear and in darkness, and unfortunately, they will forever be chained with their fears
and traumas along with the sad reality that there are no cure nor treatment for them.