The unprecedented months-long lockdown in parts of the country and the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the day-to-day lives of Filipinos and has taken a toll on mental health.

Following the health crisis that has kept patients and psychiatrists from having face-to-face sessions, teleconsultations have taken place to ensure sustained support for those suffering from mental health problems.

De La Salle University student Galilee Tan is one of those who are apprehensive about having such online consultations. 

“I wasn’t very comfortable with having video calls too due to some trauma I have…. Another worry I have is having my appointment when my mom is around… I’m just not comfortable mentioning my woes to her, so I don’t want her to overhear what I tell my psychiatrist,” Tan said. 

A survey conducted by the World Health Organization between June and August this year revealed severe disruptions in mental health services in 93 countries. It noted how mental health had been overlooked in the crisis. 

This has been evident in the Philippines as the National Center for Mental Health reported over 5,000 calls made to its hotlines since March, with the top reason pertaining to “anxiety-related concerns” and “returning callers” in situations exacerbated by the pandemic. 

Barriers to seeking help

Freelance write Beatrice* said that the pandemic has triggered her anxiety and depression. Initially, she availed of free telepsychotherapy sessions from the University of the Philippines Psychosocial Services after reading an article about it on social media.

However, she didn’t continue seeking therapy for two months afterward as they were too costly for her monthly salary, which ranges from P5,000 to P8,000.

“There’s scarce information on where to find mental health professionals…[and] at the time…I didn’t know if I could even sustainably support myself if I were to pay for my own sessions,” Beatrice said.

She managed to find a psychiatrist that best suits her needs through referrals. However, with a fee of P2,500 per session inclusive of medications, she is only able to have consultations every 4 to 5 weeks.

Although the Mental Health Law mandates access to affordable and accessible mental health services, Beatrice’s story is not the case for all young Filipinos who continue to face a multitude of obstacles in getting psychiatric assistance during the pandemic.

The lack of affordable and reliable internet in the country has also limited access to teleconsultation services.  Aside from this, the stigma attached to seeking psychiatric help has been further exacerbated by the economic toll of the pandemic. 

Dr RJ Naguit, chairperson for the Youth for Mental Health Coalition (Y4MH), said that children have become more scared to tell their parents about their mental health condition, as sessions are costly.

“It would entail them seeking services which would actually siphon the resources of the family especially now when parents are not sure if they still have a job,” Naguit explained in a mix of Filipino and English.

Improving access

Access to psychiatric experts remains difficult as high costs, uneven distribution of services, and lack of concrete information persist.

Naguit said most of psychiatrists in the country are in private practice in the National Capital Region.

“Of course, if there are no services, it would be harder for people to access these and of course if there is high demand and not much supply, it would affect the prices when we seek services,” Naguit said in a mix of Filipino and English. 

University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu student Mila Lagahit admitted her struggle in getting access to mental health services. 

“Due to limited services offered in our locality, it took me hours to look for one, even a legitimate one and that caused me to have struggles in organizing my schedule…. I live far away from the city where the centers are located and it will take much of my time to go back and forth in the location,” she said.

In light of this, mental health organizations are initiating efforts to help people get access to psychiatric experts. 

MentalHealthPH took the call to crowdsource and compile around 100 mental health services around the country with necessary information such as location, price range, and contact details. The information is listed on its website.

Roy Dahildahil, co-founder and executive director of MentalHealthPH, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected their compilation efforts.

“Currently, the challenge [lies] on gathering as much information on which of these services have an online service counterpart since we can’t freely go out to the clinics,” he explained.

In another initiative, Akbayan Youth partnered with Mindnation and Senator Risa Hontiveros to provide free teleconsultations with around 30 volunteer licensed psychologists for 573 Filipinos. 

Although Naguit recognizes that this is a small contribution, more has to be done in providing accessible mealth health services to Filipinos. 

“Hopefully this engagement would really direct them [to] seek professional help because our resources are very limited so we need to map out on how to sustain it later on,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Shared responsibility

With the limited access to psychiatric services, Dahildahil and Naguit recognized the need for civil society to localize and provide informal community-based care for those suffering from mental health problems.

“Since right now, there is a scarcity of mental health professionals, we need to distribute the responsibility. We need to maximize all sectors and all members of the community to provide an enabling environment promotive of mental health. And as what us mental health champions always say, it takes us all to achieve a mentally healthy community,” Dahildahil said. 

To implement policies in improving mental health services at the community level, Y4MH is currently holding training sessions for Sangguniang Kabataan officials. The sessions seek to strengthen basic skills in providing basic psychosocial support to their constituents. The organization also plans to pilot the program for student council leaders this October.

“We recognized na ‘yung kabataan ay meron talagang ambag (the youth have a contribution) in terms of making sure that informal community-based care is very much alive in their specific circles,” Naguit said.

Despite the legislation of the Mental Health Act in 2018, Naguit said the government should invest more in mental health services, not only in the health sector but also in other facets of the national government. 

“I think we have to adopt a whole of government and whole of society approach. Dapat lahat ay nagtutulungan, lahat ay nag-a-allot ng specific funds to actually include the mental health lens in every mandate na meron ‘yung mga different [government] agencies,” Naguit explained.

(Everyone has to help, everyone has to allot specific funds to include mental health lens in every mandate of different government agencies.) – Rappler.com

*Beatrice requested the use of a pseudonym for her own privacy and protection.