BAGUIO CITY, Dec. 7 (PIA)– The COVID–19 pandemic aside from bringing risks to physical health, poses a threat to mental health. Thus, people should always look into their well-being and make sure that they stay healthy physically and mentally by effectively managing stress, depression and anxiety.
Dr. Jovy Anne Jimero-Tangalin of the Department of Psychiatry of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center gave this advice during the Dagyaw 2020 Cordillera Regional Virtual Townhall meeting, Thursday dubbed as “Usapang Mental illness and Wellness”.
Tangalin shared that in this time of COVID pandemic, around 450 million people globally suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. Locally around 3.6 million Filipinos, suffer from one kind of mental, neurological and substance use disorders, and at the BGHMC, the top three recorded disorders among patients are depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety.
Depression and anxiety disorders if unmanaged can lead to health problems and suicidal tendencies at worst. For BGHMC, the hospital recorded 143 suicide cases since the pandemic. A study shows that suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, she added.
Tangalin advised that to cope with depression during this pandemic, people should always take care of their body and spirit, focus on things that they can control; take breaks from stressful thoughts; take time out for activities they enjoy, find ways to exercise, and take up a relaxation practice.
People should also stay connected even when physically isolated and make it a priority to get in touch with friends and family. Personal conversation is like a vitamin for one’s mental health and social media can also help, though on both instances do not let the Coronavirus dominate the conversation, she added.
For BGHMC Department of Psychiatry, Tangalin said they have a Tele-psychiatry, an online service through the Facebook page, BGHMC Psychiatry Mental Health Support & Services and through hotline numbers 0956 006 9808 and 0951 599 8778.
BGHMC, she said, is getting an average of 15 hotline calls/SMS per day and an average Facebook consultation of around 20 per day, she added.
Other resource speakers in the “Usapang Mental Illness and Wellness” are Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Inc. Executive Director Cynthia Dacanay–Jaramillo who talked about “Women and Mental Health” and Dr. Mary Pauline Espiritu–Namoca of the Saint Louis University Department of Psychiatry who gave a presentation on “Work Life Balance”.
Department of Interior and Local Government Assistant Regional Director Araceli San Jose, in closing the Dagyaw, expressed gratitude to all their resource persons, reactants and all those who joined the virtual meeting, especially the general public.
San Jose outlined the importance of Dagyaw in strengthening open and participatory governance. Through the forum, government programs can be shared to communities and at the same time, it can also help bring out people’s ideas and suggestions for better and good governance. **Carlito Dar
