Apathy Kills
- Kristel Jade M. Miranda
- Jul 10, 2018
- 4 min read
Gone were the days when we used to fear and shun away those we know nothing about.
In a society where those with mental problems are often shunned and treated as an abomination when in fact, they are the ones who need to be taken care of, we need a mental health law that would help lift the stigma engrained in our culture by promoting awareness and providing help to those in need of psychiatric assistance. Filipinos have always shrugged their shoulders when it comes to mental health issues—often dismissing it as something that should be treated with apathy. But with the increasing cases of suicide among Filipinos, how long can we remain apathetic?
It is undeniable that in a third world country like the Philippines, people often think that seeking psychiatric assistance is a luxury that only wealthy individuals can afford but what they do not realize is that everybody is entitled a right to mental health. This is exactly why the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014, also known as Senate Bill No. 2450, should immediately be passed as a law. It is an act dedicated to promote mental health, promulgate a national mental health policy towards the enhancement of integrated mental health services, protection of persons utilizing mental health services and establishment of a Philippine mental health council. It was filed on November 11, 2014 by Senator Loren B. Legarda but it’s already 2016 and it hasn’t progressed much. This may be because the government is deprioritizing it in favor of other more pressing issues. But aren’t the booming cases of suicide considered a pressing issue? You’ve heard various reports of people committing suicide, especially among the youth. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the suicide rate in the Philippines increased alarmingly; from 1984 to 2005 it went up from 0.46 to seven out of every 200,000 men. On the other hand, it jumped from 0.24 to two for every 200,000 women. In 2012, 2558 cases of suicide were recorded. Sadly, the Philippines is one of those countries that has yet to pass a national law on mental health. The lack of such a law, according to leading psychologists and psychiatrists, may well be among the reasons our suicide rate continues to rise, though there is no definitive consensus on this. Human resource is our country’s most valuable resource so if we wouldn’t pay attention to the people’s mental health, what would happen to our workforce? Are high statistics of suicide really necessary before we realize that our people’s mental health needs aren’t something that can be deprioritized?
As mentioned before, one of the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014’s vision is to promulgate a national mental health policy towards the enhancement of integrated mental health services. Because the government treats the issue of mental health as something that’s dismissible, only 5% of the total health budget is dedicated for mental health and most of which go to the operation and maintenance of mental hospitals. Also, mental health facilities in the country are mostly located only in major cities. Aside from the lack of facilities and mental hospitals, we also have shortage on mental health professionals. We only have 490 psychiatrists and 1000 nurses working in psychiatric care, and even less general practitioners trained in early assessment and management of common mental health problem in the community. The number of addiction specialists, psychologists, occupational therapists, guidance counselors and social workers are extremely inadequate to meet the mental health needs of the 100 million Filipinos. Aside from the lack of mental health care professionals and facilities, people with mental health problems are also faced with the burden of constantly combating the stigma that’s prevalent in our culture. Most Filipinos lackadaisically dismiss mental health issues because they know so little about it. Thus, they loosely use terms that they have little knowledge about to label people who seek psychiatric treatment as depressed, bipolar, crazy, lunatic, may tililing, etc. This is yet another reason why we need a mental health law; by raising awareness on the importance of mental health, the law would go a long way in addressing the public stigma associated with psychiatric treatment.
There may be a lot of urgent issues that demand our government’s attention and concern but that doesn’t mean that mental health issues should be shunned in the corner because it is considered less important. It is time to pay the proper attention that mental health issues deserve. Gone are the days where we dismiss and despise what we don't know much about. It’s about time that the Filipinos stop turning a blind eye towards mental health issues and start being concerned about it. Passing the Philippine Mental Health Act of 2014 as a law would benefit and even save the lives of many people. Supporting this bill would be our way of showing we care for those afflicted with mental health problems. Showing even a sliver of concern could save a life because sometimes, a little help that means nothing to us could mean everything to the ones in need of help. We are often apathetic to the suicide victims’ silent pleas of help but only after they took their lives would we say “we should’ve noticed”. Indeed, apathy kills.
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