In the wake of possibly the 6th suicide incident in the capital town, Virac Mayor Samuel Laynes called on the participation of all members of the community in uniting to end the stigma of mental health.
Last week, the local chief executive visited the grieving family of the Grade 11 student who shot himself on Oct. 28, 2024 allegedly after experiencing bullying at a public high school and expressed his condolences to the latter’s parents and two siblings.
According to reports, the student, 17, who was said to have been bullied by a classmate, allegedly pointing a pair of scissors at the latter’s forehead and threatened to shoot them all.
Sanctioned with an indefinite suspension, the boy was accompanied by his parents to the guidance counselor, who reportedly advised that the boy could attend classes if so certified by a neuropsychologist.
After arriving home, the boy was left alone as both his parents went out to buy something.
When they returned, the boy was already dead from a bullet wound to the right side of the head from a Cal. 45 pistol found nearby.
A police official told the Tribune that the gun was found to be registered and owned by the father, who is a member of a gun club.
It is claimed that, prior to leaving, the father checked that the gun was secure in its hiding place, which was later found to have been opened presumably by the boy.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Mayor Laynes expressed his belief that the progress of a developing municipality should be come with appropriate care not only for the people’s physical health but also mental state.
“Let us unite in doing away with the stigma of mental health. Let us help create an inclusive community, engage in conversations and express our love for one another,” he stressed.
He advised everyone who knows somebody who needs help to contact the Municipal Health Office’s Mental Health Hotline at 0918-312-7124 or 0949-119-4842 or send a message to the MHO Virac Mental Health Matters FB page.
Last week, a non-profit organization, PUSO, proposed an integration of initiatives advocating for mental health into schools through a 14-week class training and technical assistance.
In a courtesy call on Governor Joseph Cua, the group composed of PUSO Coach and Virac coordinator Aaron Magnaye and coaches Rodrico Williams, John Manual and Kyle Ivan Oyando discussed a proposal for collaboration with the provincial government and the Department of Education.
Through the initiative to be formalized through a memorandum of agreement, public school teachers will be equipped with the necessary tools to effectively support their students’ mental well-being.
According to the group’s social media page, PUSO aims to “touch and empower generations, particularly the Millennials (1981-1996), Genzers (1997-2010) and Alpha Generation (2011-2025), who are all born in the Digital Age.”
“Because of exposure to the bad effects of the internet and excessive social media use, brokenness and lack of guidance at home, these young people are more susceptible to HIV, teenage pregnancy, envy, discontentment with self, heartbreaks, suicide, depression, and identity confusion,” it said.
Aiming to save the current generation through Christ, the religious movement cites as its core values the following: Intimacy with God, Passion and Compassion for the new generation, Family, Purity and Identity, and Community.
It counts as among its activities counselling; life-changing and empowering books, events, and films; Touch Campus; community and corporate social media engagements; social work; and discipleship.
In the education department, one of the Key Result Areas of Registered Guidance Counselors is the implementation of Prevention and Wellness Programs including suicide prevention and promotion of positive mental health, alongside their primary goal of supporting students’ intellectual, social, emotional, and personal growth.
In a 2021 series of nationwide surveys on Filipino youth led by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and funded by the Department of Health (DOH), it was found that close to one in five Filipino youth aged 15-24 considered ending their life.
Participated in by 10,949 randomly selected youth aged 15-24, the study examined two sets of mental health indicators, namely depressive symptoms and suicidal experiences.
The UPPI found that the percentage of youth who often felt depressive symptoms substantially increased from 2013 to 2021, with the share of those who often felt loneliness, sadness, and being disliked by other people almost doubling over the pandemic period.
It likewise discovered that the share of youth who experienced suicide ideation and suicide attempt more than doubled during the survey period. between 2013 and 2021, with females twice as much to do so than male youth.
In 2021, almost 1.5 million youth tried ending their life, with only six in 10 of them failing to reach out to anyone about.
The study also stated that the few who sought help did so more often from close friends or peers (25%), followed by parents or guardians (7%) and other relatives (5%).
Seeking professional help was highly unpopular (4%) among those who acted on their suicidal thought, the survey added.
According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents, and suicide is among the leading causes of death in people aged 15 to 19 years old.
For SY 2021-2022, DepEd data showed that there were 404 recorded student suicides and over 2,100 suicide attempts.
The Philippines has only over 5,000 registered guidance counselors, 2,400 registered psychologists, and 650 registered psychiatrists, which are not enough for its growing population. In the public school system, there is only one guidance counselor serving 25,000 students.