The World Health Organization says more people across the globe suffered from mental health illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. But access to services that address this often-unseen burden is still not within reach for many people especially here in the Philippines.
But 'Mind You Philippines' is moving to close these gaps.
And to tell us more are its CEO Yuri Marshall and Vice President Miguel Valdez.
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
00:00 The World Health Organization says that more people across the globe suffered from mental health illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:08 But access to services that address this often unseen burden is still not within reach for many people, especially here in the Philippines.
00:18 But mind you, Philippines is moving to close these gaps.
00:22 And here to tell us more about this is live here on the studio is CEO Yuri Marcial and Vice President Miguel Valdez.
00:31 Good morning, guys, and welcome to New Day.
00:34 Good morning, Daly.
00:35 Let's talk about this.
00:37 So I think mental health issues have been going on here in the Philippines way before the COVID pandemic, but the recent situation just highlighted this.
00:45 So let's start with that.
00:47 What is pretty much lacking when it comes to addressing mental health issues here in the Philippines?
00:53 I'll start with Yuri.
00:54 Sure. I think the main area that's lacking is education and awareness.
00:59 Because as you mentioned, mental health was an issue even prior to the pandemic.
01:03 What the pandemic did was lift it to the surface, and people were very much aware that their mental health was important because they could really feel the effects of being isolated through the pandemic.
01:13 So how does MindU address this?
01:14 How does MindU address this sort of lack of awareness?
01:18 Sure. We've been really hard at work at developing resources that are for free and for the public.
01:23 So we've developed the MindU app.
01:24 It's like a resource in your pocket.
01:26 It's a safe space where you can access a safe community forum.
01:30 You can bring up topics of any challenges that you're going through, and you can also access talk therapy on there as well.
01:35 Okay. I'll talk about the app a little bit more later.
01:37 But let's first talk about now we have the means to address this.
01:41 But sometimes the problem, especially with Filipino culture, is that stigma on trying to identify, "I have a problem. I'm sort of having trouble. Maybe it's a mental health issue or whatnot."
01:53 So Miguel, how do we break that stigma?
01:56 How can we even let that person who feels something pick up that app and try to deal with any mental health issues?
02:04 I think the main thing under education would be expanding our ability to describe how we feel.
02:12 So just like a doctor, like yourself, if you ask, "What hurts?" He will go, "Does it stab? Does it hurt?"
02:20 Same thing for the psychologist relationship.
02:23 It's not enough to just say, "I'm sad." Are you despondent? Are you exhausted?
02:29 And that's part of the education that comes in.
02:33 You need to describe the experience further, and then the psychologist participates in identifying those things as well.
02:41 And why is having a safe space in order to do that so important?
02:45 Why is this also highlighted by MindUPH?
02:47 Well, it's a very vulnerable kind of situation.
02:52 Therapy is surgery for the psychologist.
02:54 That's where the experience happens, and naturally you open yourself up to somebody, and you need to feel safe that they're not going to judge you.
03:02 The same way that you open yourself up to a doctor for surgery, you need to trust that the doctor knows what he's doing.
03:08 Okay. Now, URI, MindUPH is also addressing this mental health problem and trying to get access to it towards employees and companies.
03:17 So what role should a company have when it comes to trying to bridge that gap with mental health awareness?
03:24 I think what companies need to realize is the driving force for their organization is their people.
03:30 And in the past, they've really just been organizing cultural pizza days or Friday drinks,
03:36 but they really need to pay attention to what is causing them to not be productive at work.
03:41 Right.
03:42 Are they feeling anxious? Are they feeling depressed? Do they have a lack of sleep? What's causing those factors?
03:49 And so MindU really has developed an ecosystem approach, and it's very preventative in nature.
03:54 So we help companies and provide access to talk therapy, community forum, self-help resources that they can learn themselves.
04:02 And so there's different ways where employees can really learn about how to take care of themselves,
04:08 which translates into better productivity for companies.
04:11 Okay. And not just for employees, but anyone watching this as well.
04:14 Now, let's talk about how technology is harnessed with this, and this is through the app.
04:18 So let's talk about that.
04:19 How do people get in touch?
04:22 Do you talk to a psychologist on the app? Is that all that people need to do? Who can answer that?
04:27 I think I can answer that.
04:29 So essentially, the app has a multitude of different resources.
04:32 You don't necessarily have to talk to a therapist, but if you need to, you can do it in a very affordable way.
04:38 We've really done really hard work to bring the cost down.
04:42 But otherwise, there's various ways where you can interact with the app.
04:45 Again, the community forum is a safe space.
04:47 You can be anonymous on that forum.
04:49 And on the back side of that, we have our health department and psychologists moderating the community forum.
04:55 So it really is backed by medical professionals.
04:57 Okay, nice.
04:57 So this is a learning that we picked up from the Filipino population.
05:02 Filipinos like to ask others before they actually talk to the psychologist.
05:06 They need that trust.
05:07 So the community forum was created specifically for people with lived experience of managing their own mental health
05:14 to talk to others, to have real-life advice.
05:18 And that's very important, definitely.
05:20 Exactly.
05:20 Now, really quick before I let you guys go, National Mental Health Summit is happening this October 22 with the theme, "My Kapwa."
05:29 Tell us more about this.
05:30 I think the National Mental Health Summit is very, very important.
05:33 It's the nation's annual event that is an education and awareness event surrounding mental health.
05:39 It's free to the public.
05:41 It's at BGC Amphitheater on the 22nd of October, which is a Sunday, which is Family Day.
05:46 Excellent.
05:46 So if you're a parent and you want to learn more about your own mental health and your kid's mental health, that's the place to be.
05:52 If you're a worker, you're a leader, you're someone with influence and you want to meet more people in that community, it's "My Kapwa Talaga."
05:59 This is for the Philippines and for the Filipinos.
06:01 And so I really hope everyone can come to that summit.
06:04 Yes, I really hope so as well.
06:05 Mental health issues, especially for Filipinos, is definitely important and I think it should be elevated.
06:11 And thanks to you guys, Yuri and Miguel, for sharing this, sharing this with the people for that matter.
