MakatiMed center specializes in mood and anxiety disorders

MANILA, Philippines - Makati Medical Center recently launched the Mood and Anxiety Resource and Referral Center (MARRC) to help evaluate and treat people suffering from mood and anxiety disorders.

According to Dr. Edgardo Juan Tolentino, chief of the MakatiMed Section of Psychiatry, mood and anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders in the country and around the world.

“This is the fruition of years of strategic planning,” he said at the center’s launching program.

He also brought up the importance of mental health education in this day and age, with the spate of tragic student suicides in the past few months.

Suicides, he said, may have depression and other mood disorders as an underlying condition.

“We believe these disorders require attention,” he said, adding that the aim of MARRC is to come out with informational materials and resources to educate the public and the medical community.

Dr. Carmina Bernardo, director of MARRC, said the center is a specialty evaluation center under the Section of Psychiatry “that will help clarify diagnostic and treatment dilemmas” for a patient of any age.

She said MARRC services include life charting of mood disorders, development of specialized treatment programs, and mental health evaluation of patients.

It will also inform clients about clinical trials, give lectures to the public, and refer patients to its in-house support group (Mood Harmony Support Group).

MARRC’s consultant psychiatrists, Dr. Marie Cecilia Tan and Dr. Elaine Angela Leynes, presented brief overviews of mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression) and anxiety disorders (panic disorder, phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder).

They underscored the importance of diagnosis and treatment to avoid impairment of emotional development, especially among children and adolescents, and disruption of day-to-day living.

For more information, contact MARRC at 888-8999 local 7322, e-mail at [email protected]. or visit www.makatimed.net.ph.