BUTUAN CITY -- An official of the Department of Health (DOH) in the Caraga Region said the prevalence of depression among high school and college students and how this relates to suicidal behavior needs looking into.
Dr. Cesar Cassion, assistant regional director for DOH–Caraga, said the near absence of data on the matter is preventing the health department from drawing up a viable plan to address the issue.
“Right now we admit that we don’t have data that would help us evaluate the prevalence and occurrence of depression among students in the region,” Cassion said.
Cassion pointed out that there are already plans to come up with a joint research effort relating to mental health by the DOH, the Commission on Higher Education, and the academe.
The issue was raised after the DOH-Caraga admitted the death of data especially among students, deemed among the most vulnerable segments of the population.
Data culled from police reports on fatal suicide cases suggest that teens aged 13 to 18 years old are especially vulnerable to depression leading to suicide.
“The data would be a very essential factor as it will help identify and monitor cases since mental health issues such as depression has a high probability of re-occurrence depending on the different stressors that the patient is exposed,” Dr. Marjorie Calud, a psychiatrist at the DOH Caraga Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, explained.
Calud said the stigma associated with depression should also be addressed.
“The misconceptions about depression and the way people perceive this should be addressed, because most of the time people just push it away by saying its only a weak state of mind and that you can get through it by being strong,” Calud said.
Calud said this attitude usually make matters worse especially if support structures such as the family, peers, friends, and even councils or facilitators are absent or lacking.
Calud said people who "help" should also be given proper guidelines on how to deal with those suffering from depression especially on how to intervene in terms of talking to the person.
Imelu Mordeno, who holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and a professor at the Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology expressed the prevailing problem into the lack of research studies.
“There is a vast of literature pertaining to depression in campuses. However, much is desired in the Philippine context. Assessing depression must be put into context - there is a need to increase mental health in schools. Most misconceptions about suicide lie mainly on the attribution of weak characteristics of these individuals,” Mordeno said.
Mordeno further explained that “suicide needs to be understood as an amalgamation of several factors. Academic Pressure, less social support, high expectations from parents/relative may also contribute to the likelihood of committing deliberate self-harm, or worst, suicide. Aside from prevalence, we need research that would identify risk and protective factors related to suicide.”
Mordeno who had published several studies on mental health, added that they are now currently working on a study on risk and protective factors related on alcohol and substance use initiation on high school students that would point out the link between depressions and substance abuse.
“There is a link, the use of substances which are drugs and alcohol; can be a way of coping to anesthetize from the pain and depression. However, substance abuse later becomes independent disorder because even without the depression, the addiction continues,” Mordeno said.
Jamila Loren Tingzon, 25, a fresh graduate of AB Communication of Father Saturnino Urios University shared her experience in dealing with clinical depression that almost brought her to commit suicide.
“I never had the feeling that I was coping because I didn't know I had a disorder in the first place, not until I was 23 years old and still in college. I thought my lack of interest for school and my bad habits were just uncontrollable cases of laziness and carelessness. I have had a series of passive suicidal thoughts but I felt like I was just dramatic and my pain wasn't important to talk about. The older I got, the more I strongly thought about taking my own life and I would literally grab any tool that I could use to do that and sleep next to it. I was diagnosed in year 2015 after a breakdown, which everybody including my friends and family saw. I was already hurting the people I love and that was when I realized I needed help,” Tingzon said.
Tingzon was diagnosed with mood disorder, borderline personality trait, and clinical depression.
“My parents have been supportive, but the idea of having someone with a disorder in the family is still unreal to them. This is why we need to educate parents and children about mental health. It really helps to have someone who is a professional and a few supportive friends to talk to; they give you a balance of helpful facts and opinions,” she said.
Jessica, a 19-year-old college student who was a victim of date rape and bullying in school, expressed the lack of support system that truly understood what she went through.
“It was hard keeping and hiding what happened to me, I was raped by my former boyfriend when I was 16 years old and then in school I had been often bullied by school mates for being different. The closest friend I had became loneliness and being alone, in my room either I’m crying or just wanting to end my life. I wanted to scream and shout but I fear no one would understand my condition, eventually I committed suicide and was rushed to the hospital. In shame my parents tried to hid it to the entire world and further alienated me and my condition making my life more miserable. There is no single moment that I did not want to commit suicide again, until I had a chance to talk on the internet with others who were just like me and introduced me to a professional who was able to eventually help me cope up. I’m not yet fully healed but a work in progress,” said Jessica, who requested not to be named for fear of humiliation.
Last April, DOH announced plans to increase their budget for mental health to P1 billion for the upgrade of mental health facilities all over the Philippines with another P100 million towards anti-psychotics or mental health drugs.
But research studies on incidence related to mental health have yet to be made even as several institutions has started to formulate their own plans to address the rising issue of depression among students.