In this video, James Chau talks about his fight against depression and how he manages to survive every day. Be inspired and watch the video above to know the whole story.
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Tag: mental health advocate
Alya Honasan: On Words and Purpose
“I think anybody who writes from direct experience comes from a very informed place, but when you combine that with fearlessness and a strong desire to speak your truth, then readers can tell and they will respond.”
A survivor’s fight
Alya Honasan, a Lifestyle writer at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, shares her story on coping with depression through writing her personal experiences about it. She also shared her insights on mental health and how writing somehow gives purpose on what she’s been going through.
Honasan first encountered her depressive episodes in 1990’s and she described it as a hollow block not leaving her chest. She gained a lot of weight and always slept at four o’clock in the morning, making it hard to concentrate at work. She once shared in an article she wrote that she felt like crying first thing in the morning and eventually, it turned into something worse. One day, she just couldn’t function–she couldn’t even write which was the only thing that she knows she could do forever. That was the time when she realized, she needed help.
After knowing about her own state, she immediately consulted a psychiatrist who then diagnosed her with clinical depression and advised her to take Prozac, an antidepressant. Her family was new to what she was going through, which made it even harder to cope with her illness.
Now that she is more stable because of medication and meditation, she continues to do what she needs to do in order to fight her illness. She sees her psychiatrist for two months, and as for her meds, if she feels better for months straight, the dosage will be reduced but if she’s experiencing too many depressive episodes, she has to go back to the original dosage.
Moreover, as part of her healing process, she had voluminous journals of thoughts during and after her depressive episodes. She also opts to do more of the things she loves such as taking care of her two dogs and attending yoga classes.
Her words as swords
Honasan loves the way words are a writer’s weapon in helping build the world a better place. Writing and informing people about the causes she believes in made the writing process therapeutic and fulfilling. The writing process greatly helps in coping with her illness, so she promised to write about mental health every chance she gets in order to raise awareness on the said matter.
“Now that I’ve generally got it under control (her depression), I write as often as I can about relevant subjects, because helping others overcome the unnecessary shame and fear gives some purpose to the experience, too. The fact that I can make myself understood as a writer in a mainstream newspaper means I can reach and potentially help more people,” she explained on how writing about her illness and personal experiences becomes a huge part of her healing process.
She shared that most of the people who have read her articles about mental health issues have contacted her directly on Facebook or email. They thanked her for her insights on the said topic and for giving voice to those people who are suffering from a mental illness. Honasan shared that these kind of messages are overwhelming and at the same time, it adds up to her passion on publishing more articles which discuss mental health issues.
The promise of hope
When asked for a message for the people who also suffer from depression, she said, “Get help, because life can be so much better. Find the right doctor, because some may not be ideal for you and please don’t be afraid of medication. It can ease a lot of the pain, and no, you won’t become dependent or crazier, although you have to see how you react to it. Don’t let self-righteous people tell you how to manage your illness.”
Alya Honasan’s story, as well as the stories she writes, serves as hope for those who are still afraid to get help or to talk about their condition. Her newfound purpose as a writer and a mental health advocate helps her in fighting her illness. She hopes to enlighten the public on this issue which is sitting in the dark for ages, not getting the attention it needs. By writing about mental health issues, she wishes to create a sliver of hope that the country needs in order to help people going through the same thing she does.
If you doubt that it gets better, Honasan’s story is a proof that it does. With the help of your loved ones and your own self, you will soon find a way to love yourself despite your illness.
Collecting Life Fragments through Lens
Broken, scattered pieces of oneself on the ground.
As we get older, the scars and the cracks get bigger, making it hard to deal with life and to fill the empty spaces it brings. Living with a mental illness is like having to collect broken pieces of yourself every day; you have to try your hardest in order to survive.
Daniel Regan, a photographer, and a mental health advocate talks about how he managed to collect his fragments and how he deals with his mental illness through photography.
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Daniel started to realize that he had a mental illness when he was in his teenage years because he deals with situations differently from other guys his age. He felt like he was being consumed by his emotions, making it hard to follow through everyday life. The good thing is, he discovered photography and he used it as a way of expressing himself and how he sees life and the world.
“It’s my artistic medium and what I do best. It’s also an increasingly democratic and universal creative medium that’s understood by society,” said Regan on why he chose photography as a platform for raising mental health awareness.
He loves capturing the world through a camera and he also wanted to explore mental health issues. With this hobby, Fragmentary.org was born.
Fragmentary.org is a UK based online hub of artists and photographers where they share personal photos and experiences with mental health. All of the collaborations from the online community ranges from local to international photographic projects as well as other artworks making it popular all over the globe. The site has reached a wide array of supporters, informing the public that one can heal through art.
Regan shared that the blogsite’s name came from a personal project called “Fragmentary,” where he showed series of his medical records and his representations of it through photography. The project tackles the dual perspective of both the patient and clinician and the spaces between. The word fragmentary also represents the diverse fragments of human experience and stories told through art.
“I felt that as someone exploring mental health in their own work there was a lack of a community of artists exploring similar issues. I wanted to create something that felt safe and a creative hub for artists to share very personal work and experiences,” Regan explained.
Aside from showcasing photographs and interviews, Regan together with his fellow artists and photographers, gather once in a while to conduct mental health-themed exhibits and events. The gatherings are informal and open to anyone who wants to share their thoughts and ideas regarding art and mental health.
While pursuing their love for the craft, Fragmentary.org also plays an important role in educating the public about mental health issues. According to Regan, five years from now, he sees the organization as a fully developed hub of artists working in different ways to understand and express mental health.
Through photography and helping others find their way through life with the same art, Regan feels more stable and hopeful now. He is slowly gathering back the pieces he lost during his teenage years, understanding himself and his illness better through his lens.
Now, the pieces are in his hands. He keeps trying and waiting for the day for it to be whole again.
To see more photographs and artworks at Fragmentary.org, click here
A Call for Hope, An Act of Change
The video above is created by Vince Serrano for a competition launched by NGF last 2016 entitled, “Hope in 40 seconds.”
Hope is only one call away.
An act is all we need, the ripple effect will follow soon.
According to the World Health Organization, Filipinos suffer from depression as much as they suffer from hypertension and cardiac arrest. Tourists may have dubbed the Philippines as one of the happiest country in the world but the mere neglect for mental health issues here in the country is alarming. Jean Goulbourn, founder of the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation, is taking the lead on changing the scene for people with depression as she launched the foundation on 2007.
Sprout of a new beginning
The foundation’s humble beginnings were composed of simple lectures for the youth and overseas Filipino workers and the Be Happy movement where people can freely share their thoughts about depression and their healing process. Jean Goulbourn admitted during that time that it is hard to come up with more projects and events due to lack of fund and support from the government. Private companies have been telling her in the face that the issue she is advocating is ‘too dramatic’ but she still pushed through with her goal to educate the Filipino community about depression and its effect on a person’s life.
However, this issue is not something that should be regarded as too dramatic. Although Goulbourn had been very open about the reason why she put up the foundation, the story behind is still something that would deeply move anyone.
The foundation’s name was named after her daughter, Natasha Goulbourn, who had sadly left the world because of depression. Goulbourn decided to name it after her daughter since she felt the need to create something her daughter would surely want her to do.
It took her years to actually recover from the pain of losing her precious daughter but now that she is helping in breaking the stigma surrounding people who suffer from depression, she is sure her daughter would have been very proud of what she had become as a mother and as a mental health advocate.
Cultivating change
NGF, now sporting a partnership with the Department of Health and with different private organizations and companies all over the country reaches a wide range of Filipinos to shed light on the issue about depression and how it often leads to suicide.
In fact, the foundation together with DOH and their affiliates have recently launched a crisis prevention hotline called HOPE LINE which caters to the needs of people who wanted to harm themselves because they feel like they don’t have someone who would listen and actually understand what they are going through. The project had been running for months and it is being handled by top psychologists and volunteers who are trained and educated on how to properly communicate with people with depression.
Moreover, for helping someone who is in the verge of hurting themselves, HOPE LINE is always one call away. Everyone must save the HOPE LINE number as their speed dial in case someone close to them needs to seek help. The person-in-charge will do everything to help the caller and secure them with the necessary guidelines so they would know what to do in trying to help solve the problem. It is important for them to know that there are other people who are willing to talk to them and help them.
After all, mental health is not just a single person’s problem, it concerns the entire world because even if it’s not really obvious in the first glance, the problem lies beyond and it is something that should really be taken seriously. People who have mental health illnesses must know that they are not alone and there are people who are ready to provide them support no matter what.
Today, if you feel like not getting out of bed because your thoughts were pulling you hard, pick the phone, hope is waiting for you.
Risa Hontiveros: Pushing Limits for Universal Health Care
“Knowing what’s happening, understanding what’s happening and forming an opinion and based on that opinion, trying to find out what can be done – that’s what I’m passionate about.”
Senator Risa Hontiveros shared this on her interview with 100 magazine when asked about her passion for public service. Netizens have dubbed her as an advocate of all the righteous things; on LGBT rights and discrimination, on seeing the war on drugs as part of public health, on the Reproductive health bill and now on the rights of mental health patients.
Act of change
The Philippines is the only country in the ASEAN region without an existing law protecting the rights of mental health patients despite the growing numbers of Filipinos suffering from mental health disorders. It is stated on a report made by the World Health Organization that the Philippines among South East Asian countries had the highest number of people suffering from depression. In line with this, Senator Risa Hontiveros proposed the Senate Bill 1190 or the Mental Health Act.
Senate Bill 1190 discusses a more detailed rights of mental health patients regarding their medication and health care. It was stated in the bill that Filipinos who suffer from mental health disorders should be given enough psychiatrists and mental health facilities to turn to. MH act also protects people with mental health disorders by stating that they should not be shamed or discriminated because of their illness.
Hontiveros had been pushing the act that would cater to the needs of people with mental and psychiatric disorders. She wanted the country to have enough doctors, services and facilities so it may help carry the burden of Filipinos with mental health illnesses . Moreover, during her term as a board of PhilHealth, the organization had been planning PhilHealth benefits for Filipinos who finds it hard to earn money to support their medication and mental health needs.
Breaking the stigma
She also start campaigning for mental health awareness when the Senate Bill 1190 was proposed. A series of mental health related events had Hontiveros as one of their key speakers. She often state that if we really wanted to help our fellow countrymen regarding their mental illnesses, the first thing we should do is understand what they are going through. With this, the misconceptions surrounding people with mental disorders should be erased.
She added during her speech on the University of the Philippines,“These labels, which stem from the lack of understanding on mental health and mental health rights, stigmatize many people including young people and prevent them from getting the proper treatment out of shame and embarrassment.”
The senator also shared a study by the World Health Organization that depression, anxiety and mood disorders are the leading mental illnesses among teenagers while the report released by the National Youth Commission on 2015 stated that 2 out of 10 Filipinos wanted to commit suicide. Due to that numbers, campaigns against discrimination on people with mental disorders were being conducted on different parts of the country to help inform the public that a mental illness is not what defines a person. A person suffering from depression or anxiety is more than their illness, they were people who need understanding and professional help.
Healthy Pinoy, Healthy ‘Pinas
Hontiveros wanted more mental health discourse on the Philippines for she hopes that the time will come where mental health patients were not hesitant on seeking for help because they are not being shamed. The journey on a stigma-free country against mental health is surely a long process but because of the proposed bill, we are making progress. Together with Senator Risa Hontiveros, we will keep trying everyday for our people and we will make the government see that this bill is an important leap towards a healthier nation.
“Health Pinoy, Healthy Pinas is not just a pipe dream. It can be achieved in our lifetime. Sadyang may mga bagay na hindi binibitawan,” Risa shared when asked why she wanted universal health care including mental health to push through.
With the senator’s proposed bill and the partnership of the Department of Health and the Natasha Goulborn Foundation with HOPE Line, the country is surely making its way on a better nation where mental health is recognized to be as important as physical health and the mentally ill is not diminished with terms such as ‘crazy’ or ‘attention seeker’. The senate is still processing the MH act or the Senate Bill 1190 but together with Hontiveros, let’s keep hoping that the government sees the light on this matter and let us stand together as a nation on supporting mental health awareness.
Project Greenlight 