DAVAO CITY – The Philippine Psychiatric Association has noted a shortage of board-certified psychiatrists in Mindanao amid the growing number of patients needing help from mental health professionals.

Dr. Paulo Woodruff Gonzales, director for Mindanao of PPA, said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday, September 30, that out of the 673 full-fledged psychiatrists in the country, only 41 of them are based in Mindanao.

He said that the patient-to-psychiatrist ratio in the country is currently at .52 per 100,000, which is way below than the ideal ratio of one psychiatrist for every 50,000 individuals as recommended by the World Health Organization.

Gonzales said that the most common mental health problems include anxiety disorder and major depression while psychotic and mood disorders are the leading causes of admission among patients.

He said that the association has noted an increasing trend of addiction or substance abuse, particularly alcohol and shabu, in the last five years.

Gonzales said that stress has been identified as one of the cases of mental health problems and even for other medical diseases.

Dr. Euriz A. Calmerin, a psychiatrist at the Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine-Southern Philippines Medical Center (IPBM-SPMC) here, said that the institution has registered an increasing number of child and adolescent patients.

Calmerin said that there are 400 to 500 patients seeking professional help from IPBM-SPMC from around 200 last year.

She said that their patients are from different parts of Mindanao.

“In Mindanao, there are only five ‘child and adolescent psychiatrist’ that are catering to these patients,” she said.

Dr. Bebie Queen Lucelle Tagupa, also of IPBM-SPMC, added that there were 53 individuals who committed suicide in 2022.

Tagupa added that she attended to seven patients with suicidal attempts in September, many of them by ingesting alcohol or Efficascent Oil liniment.

“Ideally, if those patients show depressive symptoms, especially active suicidal thoughts. We advise him or her for admission at IPBM, or if ever they have preferred a private facility, we advise them to be admitted there,” she said.

Tagupa said the hospital treats patients as young as seven and as old as 75.

She said that it is important to identify the warning signs in persons with suicidal tendencies to help them through medical interventions.

“The least we can do is to identify those warning signs. One of those warning signs is when person is having or talking about suicide, or a sudden change of behavior right after depression,” she said.

Tagupa added that substance abuse patients also are also risk of committing suicide.

She said patients need enhanced social support or interpersonal relationships like maintaining a healthy coping mechanism, which is helpful for individuals going through a crisis.

Tagupa added that it is important that patients seek help from mental health professionals for proper guidance and intervention.