BAGUIO CITY -- Two events that will bring together supporters, advocates, carers and the community that will help workers with mental health issues are slated on October 20 and October 27.
“We are hoping to unify the different groups who have a common agenda for the benefit of the workers with mental health problems by bringing them all together in two events dubbed as "Keep Going" which means continuing their lives,” Leslie Dulfo, co-organizer of “Keep Going! A gathering for mental health” told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Monday.
Keep Going was used as a tag to literally encourage those suffering from mental health to continue with their lives as persons, members of the family and especially as a worker.
She said on Oct. 20, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., there will be a talk, music, and poetry to inspire those in the sector to go on with their normal lives.
The event will be a mental health awareness campaign at the Baguio-Benguet Community Credit Cooperative (BBCCC) multi-purpose hall that will bring together around 100 advocates and “carers”. There will be three speakers who are expected to share their expertise on the topic.
Among them is an advocate who survived post-partum depression, a resident doctor of the Philippine Mental Health center at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), and an advocate who will share about anxiety and panic disorder.
An advocate who used poetry as a therapy to cope will also share works with the participants.
The contestants for the Mr. And Miss Summer Capital will also join the event to learn more about mental health.
For the Oct. 27 event, Aki Inway Reyes said the “Run for Mental Health” is hoped to bring together about 300 runners- supporters of mental health.
He said the fun run is a fundraising event with a registration fee of PHP350 for the three-kilometer distance; PHP450 for the five kilometers; PHP550 for the 10-kilometers and PHP650 for the 21 kilometers.
“The funds we will raise will be used to jump-start the creation of a non-government organization that will cater to mental health issues and form ‘Project Kampana’ where a website and an application will be created to aid those in the sector,” Reyes said.
He said several persons in the sector have approached them asking if they know of an employer who understands the plight of a person with mental health.
He said the question prompted the idea to create a website where those in the sector can submit their resumes, which will be linked to employers who understand what those in the sector are going through.
“This is especially true for those who have been clinically diagnosed,” he said.
The “Keep Going" fundraising will also allow them to raise the money for the continued conduct of mental health awareness in the workplace and in the community.
Reyes added that there are support groups, organizations and even treatments available.
In a report published at the World Health Organization website on October 4, it said “one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.”
The WHO also said treatments are available, but nearly two-thirds of people with a known mental disorder never seek help from a health professional. Stigma, discrimination, and neglect prevent care and treatment from reaching people with mental disorders.
The same WHO report said: “Where there is neglect, there is little or no understanding. Where there is no understanding, there is neglect.” (PNA)
