By Ruth Anne de la Cruz
The Natasha Goulbourn Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raise awareness about depression, recently celebrated the 13th anniversary of Hopeline, its 24/7 crisis hotline and announced that the foundation is changing its name to NGF Mindstrong. This came as reports indicated that in the last 45 years, suicide rates have increased by 60 percent worldwide, to the point where a life is lost to suicide every 40 seconds.Â
What is more alarming is the fact that the suicide rate among children aged 10 to 14 has nearly tripled from 2007 to 2017. In 2017, suicide was the second leading cause of death of children aged 10 to 14, teenagers aged 15 to 19 and young adults ages 20 to 24. Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 14 to 55.Â
“Suicide rates in the Philippines is rising and depression incidences are at an all time high and we at NGF and our crisis Hopeline experience more and more calls every day,” related Jean Goulbourn, NGF founding president and executive director. “We have so far saved more than 300,000 lives.”
There is not much data in the Philippines about suicide and depression but in 2012, 3.3 million Filipinos or 33 percent of the total population suffered from depressive disorders and nearly eight in 10 of the reported suicide cases in 2012 were males.
“We are calling on all Filipinos to help us bring the issue, especially depression to light, breaking free from the stigma, the shame and the fear. Knowing about depression can decrease the risk of suicide,” Goulbourn added.
The Natasha Goulbourn Foundation was established in 2007 and named after Goulbourn’s daughter Natasha who committed suicide in 2002. It aims to promote a better understanding of depression and its devastating effects such as suicide, its symptoms, and the important fact that it can be treated or event prevented. Hopeline was one of the first projects that the foundation initiated when it was created.
However, in June 2019, the Department of Health announced that it had withdrawn all support for Hopeline. It was asked to vacate their old office located at the National Center for Mental Health and has since moved to a private location in Pasig. This was one of the main reasons why the foundation decided to rename itself NGF Mindstrong. This would enable the foundation to request for funds from foreign entities.
“In spite of the challenges that we face as we celebrate our 13th year, there is a need to scale up Hopeline because we only have 20 responders and the best way to deal with people who reach out to us is to keep in touch with them,” said Julio “Jun” Sy, the foundation chairman. “We need to keep in touch with them because this is still the most effective way to stop suicide.”
A second project that NGF will be pushing in 2020 is Mindstrong, a training program for guidance counsellors because they are the first responders who will give peer counselling. While private schools have their own guidance counsellors. Out of the 25,000 public schools, only 800 of them will have a semblance of a guidance counsellor. The foundation will reach out to local government units so that they can build a counselling system so that public-school children can go to their local health centers for the first response.
Together with the “You Only Live Once” or YOLO Foundation headed by Sheila Suntay, NGF will role out the Wellness Emotional Resilience program at La Salle High School where Homeroom Guidance will be made part of the curriculum of Grade 4 and Grade 12 students. The objective of this program is to build the student’s self-esteem and to build them physically in sports to help them conquer their problems.
Suntay was tagged the second ambassador of hope. She formed the YOLO foundation after she lost her 20-year-old son to suicide 18 months ago. She made it her advocacy to push for mental health and said she “was ready to go head on against society until they accept us.”
“We all have a responsibility to save lives and let us be there for those who have depression because your mere presence is enough to heal a grieving spirit,” Suntay said. “Be there for them and watch yourself help save a life.”
On November 18, NGF Mindstrong will be staging a benefit concert called “Beyond the Blues with the Beatles.” The songs of The Beatles will be interpreted by Bituin Escalante, Jon Santos, Nicole Asensio and Michael Williams and will be held at the Grand Ballroom of the New World Hotel in Makati City. Proceeds of the concert will go directly to Hopeline responders and the maintenance of the crisis hotline.
Also present during the press conference to show their support for the foundation were Jimmy Bautista, the former Philippine Airlines president and currently a member of the NGF advisory board, actor Paolo Avelino who recalled his suicide attempt and actress Iza Calzado who spoke briefly about her experience with her mom who committed suicide.Â