[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’PSYCHOTROPIC | Break the stigma: Get Help’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ANGELICA LOUISE PFLEIDER
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=”]
Saturday, April 29, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
THE Philippines is known to be a country full of happy and resilient people. We are known for facing challenges with a smile. That is why whenever the topic of depression or suicide is brought up, we tend to shrug it off or look at it with contempt.
It does happen even to the happy citizens of the Pearl of the Orient. Our country may have the lowest suicide rate among Southeast Asian countries but it does happen. Children as young as 10 years old have either thought of, attempted, or succeeded in suicide.
However, this is not something Filipinos like discussing right? Is it because we think suicide is a form of weakness? Is it because of the strict Catholic teaching against suicide that we think it is like a contagious disease?
Suicide can be prevented in the simplest way — getting help. The Philippines has the highest rate of depression in Southeast Asia but only one out of three people who suffer depression actually strive to get help.
It’s because depression is looked to as a mental disorder. People think those who try to express how they feel are just whoring for attention. They are maladjusted “emos” who like to cut themselves to ask people to pity them.
This life philosophy is wrong. The usual causes of suicide among the youth are family, school, work, or relationship problems. These are things everyone around the world goes through. We find strength in the support from our family, loved ones, and people who care.
It is important to talk about the problems you are going through. If you feel like your loved ones cannot help, then find help from a psychiatrist or anyone who is trained professionally.
Suicide hurts people especially the family and friends of the victims. It leaves them with feelings of guilt and helplessness that they were not able to see the signs their loved one was showing. Sometimes the pain is enough to break a family apart.
Suicide is preventable. Letting a person know that he or she has support and people to talk to can change the path they would have decided to follow. People with depression should not be left alone or treated as a crazy person. They need people around them who are willing to break the stigma society has of depression and suicide to develop into mentally and emotionally healthy individuals.
To make a great society, the mental and emotional aspect of its citizens is just as important as the physical. (angelica.panaynews@gmail.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
