Mindanaotoday.com | DOH-10: Mental health, a global priority
By: Jasper Marie O. Rucat
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Mental health has become a global priority, according to the Department of Health (DOH)-10 in an episode of Talakayan sa PIA, a media forum.
“Atong theme karon nga year is mental health and well-being for all, a global priority. Meaning worldwide, priority na karon ang mental health kay sa atong nahibal-an, dili ta healthy kung dili healthy atong mental health [Our theme this year is mental health and wellbeing, a global priority. Meanwhile, worldwide, our priority is our mental health because, as far as we know, we are not healthy if our mental health is not healthy],” said Ma. Dolores Mercado, Nurse V of DOH-10.
Further, she reiterated that it has become a global priority now because there are a lot of cases that pertain to mental health that need attention.
Republic Act 11036 is the Mental Health Act of the Philippines, wherein the target is community-based mental health.
Mercado said, “Dili na ta magpadala og pasyente, i-admit nato sa mga hospitals, kay sa tinuod lang, wala man gyud ta mga hospitals diri sa atong dapit nga ma admitan sa mga pasyente, pero pwede na nato matambalan ang pasyente bisan naa ra sa ilang balay [We will not send patients or admit them into hospitals because the truth is that we don’t have hospitals here in our area that may be used as admission for patients, but we can give them medicine even though they are just at home.]”
The DOH-10 has prepared doctors and rural health units (RHUs) by providing training and intervention guides. Doctors in RHUs can provide medicine to people with mental health issues.
The medicine, meanwhile, comes from the DOH provided to RHU for their patients, but LGUs should also allocate for such medicine in their own capacity, said Mercado.
Mental health is not a virus that you catch from someone, but rather a combination of three things: biological, psychological, and environmental factors.
No person has become mentally ill because of only one factor—a collection of various experiences that led to a trigger moment.
There are some stressful situations that a person cannot handle on their own; most of the time, they need someone to talk to.
“Kung kanang stress di nato makayanan, magpatabang gyud ta. Kana atong mga people ng anaay suicidal ideation, gapangayo gyud sila og tabang. Naa gyud na silay gakaistoryahan nga tao, ga-ask for help. [If there are stressful events that we cannot carry alone, we ask for help. Those people who have suicidal ideation are asking for help. They have someone they talk to, and they ask for help],” she said.
The best way anyone can help, she said, is to listen. The problem is the men, because they do not speak.
Based on the suicide data, men are three times more likely than women to have completed suicide, whereas women are four times more likely than men to have attempted suicide. (JMOR/PIA-10)
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