A major part of mental health awareness is providing education in areas where the topic is still perceived as taboo. Many mentally ill Filipinos are ostracized and are wrongly accused of bringing shame to their families. It is, thus, crucial to have seminars where adolescents and their families can learn from both professionals and respectful discussions.
In August of 2019, we held our first mental health awareness seminar for San Lorenzo School in San Pedro, Laguna. We spoke about the global mental health crisis and shared information on various mental illnesses, before reaching out to the audience for their questions and concerns.
We invited Dr. Miriam S. Magayanes, a psychologist in San Pedro, to speak to students of San Lorenzo school about technology's effects on adolescent mental health.
Founder Patrick Jennings shared his experiences around mental illness and encouraged Filipinos to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
On December 20th, we hosted an international panel discussion on "Mental Health During Turbulent Times." Guests were student leaders from both the United States and the Philippines, as well as Dr. Keng-Yen Huang, a mental health professional from New York University. The speakers shared their thoughts on the current state of mental health and gave recommendations for how to improve adolescent mental health in their respective countries.
Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to record the first few minutes of the discussion. It was an introduction to the speakers and the beginning of a response to "How would you define adolescent mental health (AMH) and why is it important to you?"
Excited to announce that we are under registration to become a UN Partner Organization! This will provide better opportunities for collaborative projects and funding, so stay tuned for further updates.