Mental health matters.
This was what mental health advocate Dr. Gia Sison said as she encouraged the public to keep their mental well-being in check, especially amid the difficult times.
"Pag pinag-uusapan yung health, hindi lang naman physical health yung pinag-uusapan natin, even yung ating mental health and yung social aspect nun meron kaya wag natin yung kakalimutan because they always go together (When we talk about health, we're not just talking about physical health, but even our mental health and the social aspect. Let's not forget that they always go together)," Sison said during a virtual forum hosted by Queer Safe Spaces.
"Nung nangyari yung pandemic, ang nangyari naman doon ay yung appreciation of mental health kasi bukod sa Covid mismo, mind games din sya e, kasi nandyan lagi yung uncertainty na baka magkasakit ako (When the pandemic happened, what happened there was the appreciation of mental health because apart from Covid itself, because there's always the uncertainty that I might get sick or what if my loved one gets sick?), what if my loved one gets sick? So it kind of highlighted the importance of mental health," Sison added.
She furthered that mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand.
According to the World Health Organization, mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.
Breaking the stigma
Stigmatization of mental health challenges is nothing new and stigma against mental health concerns can come from several sources, such as personal, social, and family beliefs.
Sison stressed the need to change the way the public talks about mental health.
"We have to really talk about it and we have to start opening up the topic more and more because more awareness, the more the stigma is broken and that's what we need lalong-lalo na pag pinag-uusapan natin ang (especially when we talk about) mental health," she added.
"People who have lived mental health experiences are coming out and talking about their success stories. That's very important to be able to bust the stigma and debunk the myth that depression does not exist because it does," she furthered in a mix of Filipino and English.
Sison reiterated that it's important to normalize conversations on mental health and educate the public to put an end to the stigma surrounding mental health concerns and mental illness.
"I think the proper and credible information has to be made known. This is where educating the community about mental health concerns comes to play and keep talking about it."