An official of the Department of Health (DOH) said about 17 percent of Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old have thought of suicide.
This was bared by DOH Undersecretary Beverly Ho during the National Mental Health Summit on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Taguig City.
“This is the latest survey that came out among youth 15 to 24 years old... Seventeen percent have actually ideated about taking their own lives,” said Ho.
“Among those, around seven percent who actually attempted. But if you look at the percentage of that 17 percent, it is actually almost half of that,” she added.
Ho said that “family problem” was the “common reason” among those people who have thought or attempted suicide.
“Among the many issues that came out of the survey for example is that family problem tops the reason for these kinds of behavior,” she said.
Other reasons include quarrel with spouse/partner, feelings of being isolated, depression and anxiety, bullying, school-related, break-up of a relationship, among others, said Ho.
The DOH is currently partnering with different stakeholders to address the issue. The Health official also acknowledged the lack of psychologists and psychiatrists in the country.
With this, Ho said that they continue to provide mental health training for health workers in the rural health units or health centers.
“You don't necessarily need to make sure that the patients go to private clinics, for example, and even a specialist,” she said.
“So, even regular health workers should be able to screen at the very least and then refer,” she added.
The DOH is also partnering with the Department of Education (DOH) to train teachers with regards to mental health.
“The skills will have to be further given to other frontline staff. For example, our work now with the Department of Education is to help teachers have certain skills so they can actually spot, counsel, or even refer patients to the appropriate --whether it is within their school or to a nearby health clinic,” she added.
Ho emphasized that concerned agencies and sectors should “work together and think of innovative ways to address mental health, not just from a disease perspective, but actually well-being perspective.”