By Chelsea David
Calling for an end to mental health stigmatization, a mental health support officer shed light on misconceptions on mental health as she addressed Lasallians in an online conference.
Paul Anne Quibael-Forman, a mental health support officer in the United Kingdom for Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, tackled the misconceptions toward mental health as people have struggled to seek help for their problems due to negative associations.
Through the webinar of De La Salle University – Dasmarinas (DLSU-D) Psychological Society titled “BTS: Break the Stigma of Mental Health” on Saturday, Oct. 23, Forman stressed that people ask for help because they need answers to their emotions.
“Negative [labels] that associate with mental health, th[ese] stop people asking for help… they would just shell it away, kinikimkim na lang ‘yung problema because they don’t want to be called na may sayad… [and] it’s not true,” she mentioned.
“Lahat ng negative labels, kailangan natin ito(ng) burahin [na] wala silang sayad at hindi baliw. Kahit ilang beses magdasal nang dasal ‘yan, kung mayroon silang nararamdaman o concern na hindi ina-address, they would still feel the same way,” she added.
Foreman also said that mental health affects individuals by interacting with their surroundings and other people.
“[Ang mental health ay] ‘di lang ito tungkol sa utak, tungkol ito sa nararamdaman natin… nakakaapekto [rin] ito [sa] kung paano nakikipagrelasyon at nakikipagkapwa sa paligid natin,” she said.
She then discussed how mental health disorders should be diagnosed by a professional because inaccurate diagnosis will lead to inappropriate treatments.
The University is currently offering services for mental health concerns including the Student Wellness Center (SWC) and DLSU-D Center for Applied Psychology for students and the public, respectively.
For more details on contacting the following services, call (046) 481 2900 or email [email protected] for SWC, whereas click the link of DLSU-D Center for Applied Psychology on https://www.facebook.com/DLSUDCAP/
To watch the full replay of the webinar, click the link below: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=275244767823548
