RIVERA, MYLENE MAE J.

SC: 472 PURCOMM NOVEMBER 7, 2022

"A child's mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of
support,” said Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Good morning and warm greetings to each and everyone. To be able to discuss this topic is such a great
opportunity to spread mental health awareness.

Have you ever felt ignored? invalidated? gaslighted? Have you ever felt guilty for things that had nothing
to do with you in the first place? Have you ever felt being judged? Everybody gets a blue day every once
in a while, don't we? We experience emotions of despair, of helplessness, of giving up. Our emotions,
decisions, and behavior dictate our mental state.

Mental health determines how we react to stressors, how we empathize, how we handle our own
emotions and behavior, and it also affects how we make decisions. Its occurrence can be dependent on
2 factors: biological and life experiences. By biological factor, we pertain to those psychiatric conditions
that run in families by genes like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, Autism, and
Schizophrenia. Meanwhile, conditions that are obtained from life experiences include traumas.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), one person dies of suicide every 40 seconds and
Philippines has one of the highest cases of depression in the Southeast Asia. Adolescence stage,
specifically ages 15 to 29, is the most vulnerable age for people to be exposed to mental health issues.
Sadly, mental health education is not really open to people, especially the youth. The government do
not really emphasize the importance of mental health awareness. But now that we are adulting and are
aware of the surroundings, let's not turn a blind eye to those who need help. Let's open our ears, hearts
and minds, and listen to understand the struggles of the people. Hear about those factors that affected
them and see what we can do to help.

Just because we are not psychologists does not mean we will not move a muscle to those who are in
need of help. To someone who is struggling psychologically, even just your presence and company can
make them feel better. Who knows? Afterall, it would be better to make sure a person actually felt that
someone is there for him instead of him dying because he felt lonely, because he felt like no one is there
for him. I remember a psychiatrist telling me, "Isolation is not a cure for depression." So, if you can be of
great company, do be one to others.

I would like to quote a line from Ben and Ben’s song “Leaves”: Leaves will soon grow from the bareness
of trees, and all will be alright in time. -Wounds of the past will eventually heal, and all will be alright in
time. I want you to remember that everything may not be okay now, but those wounds in your heart will
eventually turn into scars- and from scars, will create a beautiful constellation.

Be the voice of the voiceless. Be the strength of the weak. Be an inspiration and motivation of the
hopeless. Thank you and once again, good morning.