BACOLOD City – The Youth for Mental Health (Y4MH) calls on poll candidates to make mental health a focal agenda in the city.
“According to the Department of Health, around 3.3 million Filipinos suffer from depressive disorders with suicide rates of 2.5 for males and 1.7 for females per 100,000,” said Y4HM convenor Louie Raner.
Raner said initiatives regarding mental health awareness must be a community leader’s priority following several cases of suicide incidents in the city involving students from different colleges and universities.
He added there are no data yet to determine the exact number of suicide cases particularly in Bacolod City.
“We talk about these cases often in hushed tones if it involves ourselves and in loud voices when it involves someone else,” he said.
Akbayan Youth led chairwoman Charisse Erinn Flores also collaborated with Y4MH to forge a
joint declaration raising mental health awareness in the city.
According to the joint declaration, stories of suicides are outright dismissed and sensationalized with very little regard for lives and families of those affected.
“We get to discuss mental health issues if it’s public and shocking” Raner said.
The group is urging the congress for the passage of House Bill (HB) 6768 authored by Congressman Greg Gasataya.
The House Bill seeks to improve mental health services in colleges and universities.
Raner said they saw the urgency to educate people in removing the stigma on mental health issues, especially on specific disorders./PN
