Helen Keller: 127th birth anniversary

She brought light to the blind

Parvez Babul

HELEN means 'light'. But very unfortunately the girl named Helen did not have light in her eyes, i.e., she could not see! Though Helen could not see this beautiful world due to her blindness nevertheless she had a dream to let the blind/visually impaired see. And she made her dream true bringing the light to the blind of the world. She toured many countries, brought courage and motivated the persons with disabilities, especially the blind and visually impaired to love their lives, to be educated, self reliant and empowered. She placed herself as an example of overcoming many odds with confidence and firm determination.
   Helen Keller dedicated her life for the betterment of the persons with blindness/ visual impairments, but unfortunately still they are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. To make it a success of her noble vision --- Helen visited 50 countries and delivered lecture emphasising on their rights. She said, "I do not like the world as it is; so I am trying to make it a little more as I want it". She further said, "Blind people are just like seeing people in the dark. The loss of sight does not impair the qualities of mind and heart". And "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face".
   Throughout her life, Helen always stood by the blind for their treatment, education and rehabilitation, empowerment and successfully advocated for them. To bring a positive change of the mindset --- Helen met all the Presidents of the United States of America (USA) during her time. She set a unique example of working for the blind despite being a blind and deaf person herself. She used to do everything like a sighted intelligent, confident and enlightened person.
   On the other hand, Helen did not have eyesight but a clear and noble vision to save sight and lives of the people to show this world that the persons of any race, caste and community, every individual has the right to see. So all of us should perform our tasks to finish her unfinished jobs, e. g. to ensure practicing due rights and to let our fellow persons with disabilities explore the opportunities to lead honorable, successful and meaningful lives.
   Helen Keller's optimism inspires us to be hopeful, as she narrates, "I hope one day to see enough Braille presses, libraries, schools, and training centers and teachers to assure all persons the opportunities they would have had, had they not been blind. This is my greatest purpose in life".
   To institutionalise her remarkable works, Helen and George Kessler (a German-American pioneer city planner) founded Helen Keller International (HKI) in 1915 (at that time it was named the American Foundation for the Blind, and the next time it was named Helen Keller International after Helen). Currently Helen Keller International (HKI) is a leading international not-for-profit, private voluntary organisation devoted to combating blindness and malnutrition worldwide. It has programmes in 22 countries including Bangladesh. Not only HKI, Helen Keller was involved with many voluntary organizations to serve the needy and destitute.
   Helen wrote a few books too on her life, beloved teacher Anne and her religious belief. Helen wrote in her autobiography: "The Story of my Life" that 'the winter of 1892 (she was 12 years old) was darkened by the one cloud in my childhood's bright sky. Joy deserted my heart, and for a long, long time I lived in doubt, anxiety and fear. Books lost their charm for me, and even now the thought of those dreadful days chills my heart...'.

^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE

Dr Nathaniel S. Lehrman, MD

Depression has become a big problem. Feelings of "helplessness, loss of hope, sadness, crying, sleep or appetite disturbances, or difficulty concentrating, for at least two straight weeks" are sufficient for the very common diagnosis of "clinical depression."
   Over the past 50 years, in US hospitalisations for depression have increased almost 30 times, from 9.8 per 100,000 in 1943 (in New York, which had more per capita than any other state) to an estimated 280 per 100,000 (nationally) in 1994.
   And that's only the beginning. Scientists estimated in 1997 that 18 million Americans suffer severe depression each year, with one in five of us experiencing a depressive episode during his or her lifetime (that's 20,000 per 100,000).
   
   Drugs
   Ann Landers maintained that 80 per cent of depressions "can be treated successfully with medication" (listed first), "psychotherapy, or a combination of both," and noted happily that on National Depression Screening Day in 1998, more than 85,000 people visited screening sites, with over 70 per cent of them then "referred for a full evaluation."
   Some experts, claiming that 50 per cent of "clinically depressed" people will have another episode, note that a growing number of doctors are writing prescriptions for them for years on end. One expert even insists "there is a subgroup of people who will stay on medication for the rest of their lives."
   These views of depression, based on today's drug-oriented approach to treatment, conflict almost totally with the experience of many, including myself, who treated depression successfully before the drug era began.
   It is estimated that 28 million Americans now take prescribed (doctor-controlled) anti-depressant medications.
   Production of these drugs has consequently become a huge business, with "global sales estimated at $6 billion a year."
   
   Prozac
   Prozac sales alone amounted to more than $1.7 billion in 1999 - a third of the Eli Lilly and Company's total business - while prescriptions for its major current competitors, Zoloft and Paxil, also continue to rise rapidly.
   Despite the side-effects experienced by a quarter of Prozac users, Lilly recently spent $15 million to advertise the drug directly to the public - to increase patients' demand for it from their physicians.
   
   Hazards, addiction
   Although all the long-term side-effects of these central nervous system [CNS] drugs are still not known, those which are known have evoked much less attention than they should. Anti-depressant drugs' greatest danger is their evocation of suicidal and/or homicidal feelings and behaviour. Two teenagers who attacked their fellow students at Columbine happened to be taking anti-depressants.
   Another danger from "feel-good" drugs is the creation of dependency or addiction. Many who are hooked will turn to street drugs since they are cheaper, more available, often stronger - and under a user's own control, rather than under a doctor's.
   We find ourselves in this increasingly difficult situation because psychiatry has badly mishandled depression in its all-consuming reliance on drugs as the first line of treatment.
   Dr. Nathaniel S. Lehrman is the former Clinical Director of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn, NY.

^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE