More adolescents are seeking the help of psychologists to deal with their mental health issues.
This was the observation made by Mariflor “Yeng” J. Gatchalian, RPsy, Chairman of the Department of Psychology and Head of the Mind Care Center of Perpetual Help Medical Center-Las Pinas.
According to Gatchalian, these adolescents are becoming more open about their mental health issues and they are even the ones who are asking their parents to bring them for a consultation with a psychologist.
“The adolescents who are coming to us are the ones who inform their parents of their need to see a psychologist,” Gatchalian said, adding that the Covid-19 pandemic had indeed increased awareness about mental health issues.
Anxiety, depression
After more than two years into the pandemic, Gatchalian said anxiety and depression are the main mental health issues that Filipinos are currently facing. This is mainly because of uncertainties like the lockdowns and the “pressure to fit into something that we have never experienced.”
“If you were working from home before the pandemic, if you get bored, you just bring your laptop to the nearest coffee shop and that’s it. But during the lockdown, nothing. You are really forced to be inside your home. And with that, you find it difficult to synchronize our activities with the things we do,” she explained.
Other factors that contributed to mental health issues include feelings of isolation and the lack of interaction with other people.
“For example, an adolescent gets stuck at home, has online classes, oversleeps, overeats and gains weight. When meets up with his friends, he gets teased because of his weight gain and his self-esteem suffers and he starts to feel left out. So there are lifestyle changes and issues start popping up and then there is a chain reaction,” Gatchalian said.
Two purposes
The Mind Care Center opened its doors last April with the full support of Hemilyn Escudero-Tamayo, the wife of PHMC-LP President Richard Tamayo, who is currently taking up her PhD in psychology. The center was opened to serve two purposes. The first purpose is to help external clients have access to mental health services.
According to Gatchalian, it is difficult to book an appointment with psychologists and counsellors as it usually takes six months, especially for child psychologists. The Mind Center’s goal is to make it easier for clients to book an appointment. Hence, the center has associate psychologists who do online and face to face consultations.
“The center’s second purpose is to provide mental health services to hospital personnel. That is why we offer free counseling for personnel. I think we have already catered to four of our personnel,” Gatchalian said.
She added that there are also plans to conduct a psychological first aid training program for hospital personnel so that they will know how to deal with the initial distress they encounter in the hospital.
Medical models
While other similar institutions are led by psychiatrists, PHMC-LP’s Mind Center is headed by a psychologist. When asked about the differences in approaching mental health issues, Gatchalian pointed out that psychiatrists are medical practitioners while psychologists are not.
“So the modality of treatment of psychiatrists are medical models. They prescribe medicines, we don’t. So who should you be consulting with? That really depends with you. If a psychiatrist sees that a patient requires psychotherapy, the patient will be referred to us. If psychotherapy cannot help the patient and there is a need for medication, we refer them to a psychiatrist. So we usually partner with them,” she explained, adding that no one is better than the other.
“A psychiatrist is symptom-based. They will give you medication based on your symptoms. We are more on giving them the capacity to take care of themselves by providing skills. If you cannot sleep, these are the things that you do,” she said.
For The Mind Care Center, Gatchalian said their shout-out is “We don’t take care of you. We help you take care of yourself.”
“This is because after therapy, we want our patients to know how to deal with their issues and they will not be too dependent on us,” she added.
Comparative advantage
When asked about their comparative advantage over other institutions, Gatchalian pointed out that the hospital’s name is a big help to the center.
“We have a very good reputation in medical service and this is a tertiary hospital. With that, we are forced and pressured to live with the standards set by the hospital,” she said.
The center’s second selling point is that they help their clients secure appointments with psychologists at the soonest possible time, ideally within a week the request for appointment is made.
“Third is we have very good psychotherapists. I can really vouch for the therapists that we have. They are proven and come from very good institutions. Right now. Four officers of the Psychological Association of the Philippines are affiliated with us and the others have their own clinics. These are our edge over the others,” Gatchalian said.