Why October is Mental Health Awareness Month
October isn’t just for Halloween but for Mental Health Awareness Month, too!
While our physical health is easy to address, mental healthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for unfortunately takes the back burner because of the many things we need to address. Whether it’s homeschoolingHomeschoolingEducating children at home with a parent-led or accredited program rather than in a traditional school. Families choose it for flexibility, personalized learning, or health reasons, and it needs a requirements, juggling family dynamics with the in-laws and extended familyExtended FamilyRelatives beyond the parents and children, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who often help raise a child. In Filipino households this network shares childcare, wisdom, and support, though, or work, these take a toll on our mental healthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for since we’re forcing our minds to think on multiple levels and to multi-task. But for this October, as we celebrate Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness Month, perhaps, it’s time we ask one another: “How are you?”/ “Kamusta ka?”
When did Mental Health Awareness Month in the Philippines start?
Although the United States holds its Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness Month in May, the Philippines initially had its Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness as a week-long celebration in the second week of October. Based on Proclamation 452 former President Fidel V. Ramos certified in 1957, he saw the economic and diplomatic benefits of celebrating this awareness in the Philippines. Proclamation No. 452 revised Proclamation No. 432 which celebrated Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness in January.
Eventually, the Department of Health suggested that Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness become a month-long celebration instead of a week-long one to help the Philippine population become more aware of unseen health battles.
What do people do in Mental Health Awareness Month anyway?
Last year, many organizations recognized the month by holding smaller celebrations. The Philippine Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Association has various chapters across the country with the Cordillera Chapter celebrating last year by wearing blue. This was in line with the campaign “Light Up In Blue,” introducing the cool color as one of the selected shades to symbolize mental healthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for besides green.
Other organizations that offer mental healthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for services advertised more of their services. Various forms of counseling, therapy, processing, and even studies that were funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) came to light, further enlightening Filipinos about diseases that are invisible to the naked eye.
All this was in hopes of removing the stigma on mental healthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for, which Filipinos often dismiss as a problem in one’s spirituality and relationship with God. A lot of times, that comment is what drives a wedge in families, especially between kids and their parents. Telling them to “pray” shows dismissal instead of the empathy that we’re supposed to be expressing as parents.
How our cracks eventually turn into leaks
As parents, we always try our best to soldier on, despite our feeling bad. But even the most resilient person cannot suppress those feelings. They eventually do leak, subconsciously influencing even our mannerisms. We could be placing the plates on the counter a lot harder than usual, almost akin to a banging. Our choice of words could be sharper than usual when we critique because we’re irritable, although we try to rationalize it as being “candid” and “honest” with our children so they’ll find more ways to improve.
But our well-meant intentions are not always interpreted properly. For children cannot see what we’re feeling, especially at younger ages. Because their views are still “black and white” and developing, they will perceive our sharpened words as rejection. Sure, we didn’t mean to hurt them. But because we chose to suppress and disregard our own inner pain, it leaks out subconsciously to find release so we can still push forward as parents.
Thus for Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness month, perhaps we should keep in mind an adage: “Your voice becomes your child’s inner voice.” From every critique and every praise, it’ll be the one our children will hear even when we’re not there.
A month that calls for inner peace, empathy, and compassion
We all have our own battles but our losing of one gives us no right to unleash our griefGriefThe deep sadness that follows the loss of a loved one, which children experience differently from adults. Parents can help by using honest, simple words, allowing tears and questions, keeping on others without permission. There are ways to establish a safe space like asking permission from a friend to express yourself or finding a socially acceptable outlet like music, art, writing, etc. But when someone approaches us to talk about their mental healthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for, it means they’re placing their trust in us. When our kids tell us that they’re sad, we need to restrain ourselves from telling them that “there’s nothing wrong” or immediately seeing ourselves as a “villain.” They’re coming to us because we make them feel safe.
But there’s also nothing wrong in saying that we are not the safest place for them at the moment. There’s a lot to process amidst silence. For this Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness Month, let’s remind ourselves that sometimes, we don’t have to do. We just have to be.
More articles to boost Mental HealthMental HealthA person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being, which affects how children and parents think, feel, and cope. Open conversations, regular routines, and timely help from professionals make it easier for Awareness:
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