Advocating for mental health

There’s a chance that each of us had felt the same thing before: Feeling a little depressed in life for varied reasons like losing a job, breaking up with your partner, arguing with a client, experiencing disasters and the passing of a loved one. Friends normally tell comforting words in an attempt to make us recover from the stressful situation. They usually say, “Cheer up, the experience is something that will make you stronger.” They do it to make you feel better without knowing that sometimes it only adds up to your grief.

But there are people who truly have the gift of making you feel good about yourself. Among them is cardiologist Dr. Erlyn Cabanag-Demerre. Once you get to talk to her, the emotional stress and mental burden would feel like slowly going away that you end up looking forward to having a chat with her. She once said that most of us wrongly consider grief as a temporary problem. It is not a problem at all. It is a normal reality for people dealing with loss or separation.

To gain insight and learn ways of handling the emotional pain, Dr. Demerre will once again lead in the preparation for grief management conference titled Understanding Grief 5: Mental Health First Aid Toward Creating Communities of Recovery and Hope. It will be held on May 31 to June 1 at the Barcelon Hall, 6F The Podium Bldg. of The Medical City in Ortigas Ave. Ext., Pasig City.

The conference is organized by EPCALM Adult Leukemia Foundation of the Philippines in partnership with The Medical City. Dr. Demerre is the founder and chairman of the board of EPCALM (Erwin Piedad Cabanag Adult Leukemia Ministries, a non-stock and non-profit organization that helps leukemia patients and their families. It was founded in memory of Dr. Demerre’s brother Erwin, the city fiscal of Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental who lost his battle with leukemia in 2005.

EPCALM advocates Kuh Ledesma, Heart Evangelista and yours truly will take part in the grief management seminar. The conference is especially designed for support groups, program implementors (hospitals), school administrators, guidance counselors, social workers, medical professionals, professional parents, youth organizations and health care givers. Participants are expected to learn in the two-part conference. The first part focuses on Mental Health and Mental Health First Aid while the second part highlights the psychosocial aspects of a person with a cancer experience.

Mental health is essential in determining a person’s ability to cope and be resilient in what life throws his/her way. In simple yet profound words: It is our capacity to live, love and laugh in spite of life’s challenges that come our way. The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make contributions to his or her own community.”

For Mental Health First Aid, the sessions will increase mental health literacy, train laypersons to help those developing a mental health challenge or experiencing a crisis as a mental health first aider, encourage participants to be partners in creating communities of recovery and hope through Mental Health First Aid, and reduce negative stigma related to mental health challenges and disorder.

The main speaker for Mental Health First Aid is Tony Cloud, a certified instructor by the National Council for Behavioral Health based in Washington D.C.  He is also a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness as a trained facilitator who leads a support group for caregivers of those living with mental illness.

Dr. Salvador Benjamin Vista, an associate professor of psychiatry at the UP College of Medicine and chief psychiatrist of St. Luke’s Medical Center Extension Clinic, on the other hand, will talk about the topic on depression and addiction among the Filipino youth.

Participants who complete the eight-hour session on Mental Health First Aid will receive a certificate on Mental Health First Aid and as a Mental Health First Aider.

For Psychosocial Aspects of Cancer, resource speakers are Dr. Maria Fidelis Manalo, The Medical City’s head section of Supportive and Palliative Care, Augusto P. Sarmiento Cancer Institute; and Dr. Angelita Sievert-Fernandez, Kythe Foundation, Inc.’s chief life program manager and certified child life specialist of Child Life Council in the USA.

The sessions will present the psychosocial needs of people with a cancer experience; psychosocial management and development of advance are planning guide. The focus will be on adolescents and young adults.

At the conclusion of the conference, participants will increase mental health literacy, be trained as a mental health first aider, get a grasp on the psychosocial needs of people with a cancer experience (adults, adolescents and young adults), and learn how to promote wellness in patients with cancer.

Those interested to participate in the seminar may reserve slots by calling at 0949-1337586, 0977-8333238 and 723-0101 loc. 6341.