Mental Fortitude

T“There is no health without mental health”. When we hear the words “mental health”, what often comes into mind? What words or scenarios do we usually associate with the term? We talk about mental health on social media platforms; this is done by sharing articles related to it, putting up posts to raise awareness, and to reach out to those who might feel like they do not have a voice to talk about their mental and emotional struggles. But what does mental health really mean? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is “…a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

On the other hand, Medilexicon’s medical dictionary defines mental health as “a state of psychological well-being in which one has achieved a satisfactory integration of one’s instinctual drives acceptable to both oneself and one’s social milieu; an appropriate balance of love, work, and leisure pursuits.

Unlike what most would commonly link with the term, it does not portray the presence of mental illnesses or disorders but rather, the absence of them. It is often misused and interchangeably being used in substitute of mental illnesses.

When we say mental health, it tackles about our mental well-being. This encompasses the spectrum of our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our capabilities in solving our problems and overcoming the difficulties that we face on an everyday basis, the connections and the relationships that we share with the people around us, and the way we understand the world. One of the most important parts of mental health is the ability to perceive things realistically. Having good mental health doesn’t necessarily mean that we are happy all the time or that we don’t have any problems weighing us down; it’s about being able to cope up with the challenges and stressful events and continuing on living despite them.

Mental illnesses (which is also referred to as mental health conditions/ disorders), however, is defined as an illness which affects the way people think, behave, and feel around others. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, it is specifically referred to as a “syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.

According to the Philippines Statistics Authority in 2010, 14% from the population of 1.4 million Filipinos with disabilities were identified to have mental disorders. In the data provided by the Department of Health in the year 2005, only 88 out of 100, 000 cases were reported for every population, an underestimation of its prevalence considering that mental illness is the third most prevalent form of morbidity reported by the National Statistics Office.

The Department of Health released a statement last 2019, stating that a total of 3.3. million Filipinos are suffering from depressive disorders with suicide rates 2.5 and 1.7 per 100, 000 in males and females, respectively. It was also noted that there are 800, 000 people who die from suicide each year, as said by the World Health Organization.

There is a stigma that surrounds mental illnesses in Asian countries and cultures. People with mental illnesses are often discriminated and viewed as violent and dangerous. There is even a belief that supernatural forces are behind mental illnesses. In addition to that, it is viewed as a collectivist culture and the discussion of mental health struggles are seen as disrespectful and is not socially accepted, in other contexts. There are instances where people who suffer from disorders are labeled demeaning nicknames associated with their struggles. Because there are many assumptions, beliefs, and stories that surround mental health and mental disorders, the stigma continues to grow and continue in the Philippines.

On June 2018, the Philippine Mental Health Act was signed into law. This is otherwise known as the Republic Act of 11036. The Philippine Mental Health Act protects the rights of the patients, stated as follows: “a right to freedom from discrimination, right to protection from torture, cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment; right to aftercare and rehabilitation; right to be adequately informed about psychosocial and clinical assessments; right to participate in the treatment plan to be implemented; right to evidence-based or informed consent; right to confidentiality; and right to counsel, among others”. This law highlights the importance of psychosocial support to be given to the family of the patients when needed and to include them if the patients were to undergo treatment.

Not only does it put importance on the mental struggles of the people but also the relevance and the roles of mental health professionals. This law protects their rights in participating in the treatment of their patients and to work in an environment that is safe for them. The law also seeks to educate more people about mental health by promoting programs related to it in schools and organizations.

Why is it important to break the stigma that surrounds mental health and the people who continue to suffer from mental illnesses? Social stigma and the continuous degradation of a person can worsen one’s mental health, putting him in a situation where he is too afraid to be open about his feelings. It can make it hard for someone to recover as negative feelings start to arise such as hopelessness and fear.

Everyone, may it be someone who’s suffering from mental illnesses or is free from them, has a role to play in breaking the stigma in order to provide and promote a much healthier mental health community. One of the ways is to learn more about mental illnesses and taking personal experiences into account. By sharing this information to your family, friends, and colleagues, you are helping them open their eyes and making them see that people are more than what is being labeled to them as. Treat everyone with respect and do not let negative judgments cloud your perspective.

WRITTEN BY FRANCIS MISSION PHOTOS BY DAVID QUIMPO/ HARIBON FOUNDATION INC.

DULUNGAN

Nest builders of hope and persistence

THE FLAGSHIP BIRD SPECIES OF THE PROVINCE OF ANTIQUE Under the scorching heat of the sun, groves align both sides of the trail, with their foliage resembling a verdant canopy for avid scouters. Footsteps through the bushy tuft produce sounds as they traverse towards the glade in the lawn of the forest. Campers have to trek approximately five to seven kilometers in order to reach the mountain top. Upon reaching the peak, a flock of birds can be seen flying to the west. After a while, they heard a screech ten meters away from their tents. Everyone gathered in the pinnacle to witness the magnificent hues of birds reflected in the apparent descent of the sun at the horizon. As the gray light dusked the camping site, the bonfires begin to light.

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According to the Philippine Geography, our country is rich in natural resources including the different species of plants and animals that may help contribute in maintaining the equilibrium of our ecosystem. For most tourists visiting the Philippines, Panay in Western Visayas, is considered as one of the most visited islands because of its undiscovered tourist spots. Nevertheless, Panay is not only a place for vacations and tours, but it is also a home to a number of endemic but threatened and critically endangered species. One of which is the Rufous-headed Hornbill.

Among the most threatened in the wild, the Rufousheaded Hornbill or Walden’s Hornbill also called as Visayan Wrinkled Hornbill or Writhed-Billed Hornbill (Rhabdotorrhinus Waldeni) known locally as “Dulungan”, is one of the 11 hornbill species that can be found in the rainforests on the islands of Negros and Panay.

Dulungan has its own unique and distinct features in order to recognize their sexes. The male has rufous head, neck and upper breast. It showcases red and yellow on its head and beaks, and the rest of the body plumage blackish with glossed green upperparts, has orange bare orbital angular skin. While the female boasts a pop of blue against its crimson throat, has white bare orbital and gular skin paired with blue and black underparts. Both males and females have ocular skins that make them more attractive and pleasing regardless of their notorious goat-like call.

Despite of their resounding outcry and grotesque resemblance, Rufous-Headed Hornbills are the most elusive among any other hornbills but these Dulungans can also be found in the province of Antique particularly in the montane forests of Culasi and lush mountains of Sebaste. Because of the abundance of its various biological diversity, Antique has become not just a habitat for plants and animals but reckons as the sanctuary of wildlife.

Dulungans are one of the most responsible birds because they have the bizarre method of protecting their young in which they are highly territorial and eager to defend their nest site. Unlike other bird species, Dulungan has a unique habit of nesting in hollow trees. However, these birds are slow breeders and the breeding season is their weakest period but Dulungan parents work together to ensure their chicks’ survival. As the females burrowed inside their nests nursing the young, the males tend to fly around looking for food and return home to feed their hungry chicks.

Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Inc. or simply known as Haribon Foundation, is the country’s pioneering environmental conservation organization advocating biodiversity conservation through building constituents, empowering communities and applying multidisciplinary research. The Haribon Society, on its founding years, yields on bird conservation where they conduct research, collaborates with local agencies, communities and indigenous people, and engage different groups and individuals in an exhilarating quest for the Specie of Hope and globally-threatened Dulungan. Their journey over the decades has extricated captivating verity about the Philippine birds that are in most need of protection and security, including their habitats.

As an educational institution, University of Antique (UA) was tapped by the Haribon Foundation to become one of its partners for the implementation of the school-based information campaign and conduct researches to raise awareness about the Dulungan, to promote a various community-based intervention to save the species and engage the youth on biodiversity conservation in more creative ways. In response to this proposal, through the formulation of the Critical Habitat Management Plan (CHMP), UA was able to conduct workshops to introduce Dulungan to students and encourage them to take part on this advocacy.

“In order to preserve the forest, you have also to preserve the Dulungan for they are the seed dispensers or farmers of the forest,” Dr. Dolorosa Pajarillo, Team Leader of the UA Research Team on Dulungan said in an interview. Dulungan also serves as the “Health of the Forests” because of its ability in propagating the plants. While the female was left cooping inside the hollow tree, the male is tasked to find their food. It carries the food (mostly the seeds) through its beaks and if the bird can no longer hold the seed, it let the seed fall to the ground. Through time, the seed develops and grow to a new tree and the cycle continues until all the areas of the forest have been covered by trees from the seeds that were being scattered by Dulungans.

Towering ridges, steep cliffs, flowing rivers, crackling sounds of twigs, rustling leaves, and nostalgic allure of sunlight, the trees of the montane forests grow dense --- closed canopy, evergreen --- mostly undamaged by human activity, are too far different from what is being experienced by these species at present. Poaching, hunting, and habitat loss are some of the more threats to Dulungan. Chronic deforestation caused by illegal logging, burn farming, expansion of agricultural lands, and encroachment from settlers has led Dulungan to its extinction and extreme scarcity and only 23% of the Philippines’ original forests remain. After decades of perversion, the Rainforests of the Philippines have been transformed into a vast swathes of desert thereby reducing its population over the year.

Dulungan inhabits in a lowland dipterocarp forests with a tall hardwood tropical trees. Therefore, there is a need to restore their sanctuary and guarantee that they are able to thrive and survive alongside humans, hence, it is further important to create a critical mass of individuals who have similar framework for action and the necessary skills to pursue biodiversity management. People are responsible stewards of the environment. They have to ensure a sustainable approach in carrying the quality of life that values sustainable development for the preservation of ecosystem. Planting trees that cater birds, implementing nest guarding scheme, anti-poaching and illegal logging crackdown can bring back the homes of the Philippine birds. Through a massive information dissemination campaign, community efforts to save and protect Dulungan has also to increase drastically.

A certain individual doesn’t need to be an expert to help contribute in saving the nature, sometimes, it takes a willing heart to take a step and lead the way. In spite of its heavy-looking appearance, Dulungan has been declared as a “Flagship Specie” of the Province of Antique. Dulungan conservation is a pride that Antiqueños should be proud of.