by Joram Nelson Parras Vivo II Φ2017B
With the recent rise of mental health in the discussions of various health issues affecting the world today, it sure has been put into limelight in the past few years. Different mental and behavioral disorders impose a significant burden on public health. In the Western Pacific Region alone, more than 100 million suffer from mental disorders according to the World Health Organization. To address these problems, many intersectoral strategies and interventions are now being employed to promote mental health, prevent and treat the disorders, and alleviate the suffering caused by them. Its inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations further shows the recognition by the world leaders of the promotion of mental health and well-being, as well as the prevention and treatment of substance abuse as health priorities in the agenda.
In the Philippines, the Mental Health Bill or the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2017 was created and proposed in the senate by Senator Risa Hontiveros. The bill states that the government is to provide the appropriate mental health services at regional, provincial, and tertiary hospitals. It also aims to bring these services down to the level of the communities to provide better and faster access to those who need it most. The bill also seeks the cooperation of government institutions other than the Department of Health such as the Commission on Human Rights, Department of Education, and Commission on Higher Education to integrate mental health in the education system and in the programs of the other agencies as well. The Senate has approved the bill last May 2017 and has forwarded it to the House of Representatives for their concurrence. After the deliberations, the Representatives has approved the bill on November 2017. With the bill’s approval from both the houses of Congress, the only thing remaining for it to be passed into law is the president’s signature.
Now only a step away from implementing a policy that will respond to the mental health needs of the Filipino people, the question remains, are we ready to enact the provisions on this bill should it be passed into law? This is where the service project Usapang Isipan of the Phi Kappa Mu Fraternity comes into place. For the past year, the Office of the Senior Guardian of the Temple Edroico Mari Beltran Brillante Φ2015 has been conducting a three-day series of talks and workshops which serves to increase awareness on the various mental health issues that the country is facing today and to increase the number of trained people capable of enacting the mental health law. Attendees of the event came from different schools within and outside Metro Manila. Aside from students, there were others who are mental health advocates coming from various organizations and institutions like DOH and Unicef.
The first session was held on November 25, 2017. Opening remarks were given by Jian Kenzo Ong Leal Φ2017A. The speakers were all from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine of the Philippine General Hospital. First up was a graduate of BS Psychology from De La Salle University – Taft, who finished with the degree of Doctor of Medicine at San Beda College, had her post-graduate internship at the Department of Health – Philippine Center for Specialized Healthcare, and is currently a senior Psychiatry resident at UP-PGH, Dr. Carmelle Tan. She lectured on depression as one of the growing public health problems, especially in the Philippines. Here, an estimated 3.29 million people live with it, the highest in Southeast Asia.
The next mental health sickness discussed was anxiety. Being one of the most underrecognized and undertreated mental problems, anxiety has affected as much as 1/3 of the many populations around the world. The talk on anxiety was conducted by Dr. Irrisse Albine L. Sison, a graduate of BS Psychology from Ateneo de Manila University and finished Doctor of Medicine from University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center.
The third lecture on psychosis, which is the leading diagnosis of users treated in outpatient facilities, was given by Dr. Jolly Michelle S. Bustamante. She earned her medical degree from University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and completed her residency in general psychiatry in the National Center for Mental Health. She is also currently doing her fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UP-PGH.
The last lecture for the first session is one that is relevant in the Philippines, even encompassing, social and political issues: substance abuse. This health problem has sparked controversial national movements against drug abuse, one of the most famous is Oplan Tokhang, which also met various oppositions from various sectors of the society. The lecture was given by Dr. Rowalt C. Alibudbud. He earned his undergraduate degree in the De La Salle-Health Sciences Institute. He continued his medical studies in UERM and had his post-graduate internship at the Makati Medical Center and is currently a senior Psychiatry resident at UP-PGH.
The second session of Usapang Isipan was held a week after the first, December 2, 2017. The session picked up from where it ended the last time by talking about psychosis as manifestations of common illnesses such as schizophrenia, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The speaker is a graduate of BS Psychology from University of Santo Tomas, who then pursued Doctor of Medicine at Xavier University – Jose P. Rizal School of Medicine. She is currently a Psychiatry Resident at the UP-PGH, Dr. Christi Annah Hipona.
The next lecture is one that is very relevant to the Filipino community, especially to the youth – cyber addiction. With over half of the Filipino population having access to the internet and spending an average of 8 hours and 59 minutes online – the highest in the world, it truly is an emerging problem in the country. The speaker was none other than the Section Head of Behavioral Medicine in UP-PGH, the Director for Luzon and Board Member of the Philippine Psychiatric Association in 2013 and was a Board Member of the Alliance of Filipino Families for the Mentally Ill in the same year, Dr. Maria Lourdes Rosanna E. de Guzman.
For a more in-depth discussion of the topics lectured for the past sessions, small group discussions were held for the participants of the program. There was also a patient encounter, courtesy of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine of UP-PGH.
The third and final Usapang Isipan session was held last February 10, 2018. For the past two sessions, lectures were focused on understanding what mental health is and the types and presentations of various mental health disorders. This time, the participants were enlightened on a framework that values social and psychological support in helping fellow human beings suffering through crisis events. The speaker, Dr. Maria Lourdes Rosanna E. de Guzman talked about psychological first aid, citing examples in the Philippine setting such as Typhoon Yolanda catastrophe and the more recent Marawi Siege.
After the lecture, the participants were then prepared for Mental Health Project Planning. They were grouped based on their organization, school, or area where they’re from. This activity serves as a culmination of everything that they have learned from all the other activities in the past sessions and how they will apply it in their respective communities by creating a feasible project, addressing the local mental health problems. After the working break, the groups presented their work in front of Dr. de Guzman who gave comments and suggestions on how to further improve the projects that they have developed.
The last session was concluded by awarding the certificates to Dr. de Guzman, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, and finally to the participants who have successfully completed the 3 sessions of Usapang Isipan Training Program.
As the first batch of participants graduated, Edroico Mari Beltran Brillante Φ2015, Senior Guardian of the Temple, hopes to continue and make this training program bigger and better for the next batches to come as this project hopes to make an impact in the society by providing capable social and psychological support to the communities, utilizing all the lessons learned by the participants in the program. In the end and in line with WHO, the goal is to close the gap between what is needed and what is currently available to reduce the burden of mental disorders worldwide and to promote mental health.
