Health

To address and talk about mental health and mental illness, there are different perceptions and approaches in my country. It depends on where the family lives and if they are open-minded just like the case of those living in the city. But those living in remote or rural areas have different approaches – many times the family tries to hide the individual with mental illness due to several factors, foremost of which is the lack of money or available resources for medical evaluation and treatment.

In urban areas where families are open-minded and have access to resources, they normally bring the subject individual to the psychiatrist, neurologist or related medical practitioners to be evaluated and treated.

For those in remote areas or provinces with limited medical services, the cost of counseling and treatment is not the only factor that sets back most Filipinos from going to doctors to get a professional opinion. The Filipino culture encourages coping with mental illness through social means. Even our language uses different interpretations for various mental health conditions. There are instances or cases that require formal treatment depending on the condition and those who have no resources depend on faith healers or otherwise called quack doctors. The family think those faith healers can help because they assume the subject person has been cursed or has a man-made illness. I saw from some TV news reports wherein some people with mental illness were isolated and treated like animals and put inside a cage. Some do self-diagnosis which can also only worsen one’s condition.

The Department of Health tried their best to reach out and have rural health centers, assigned rural health/ government doctors, nurses and additional rural health workers in all barangays (equivalent to rural communities) in the Philippines. There are limited groups or organizations and the best approach is to be first seen by the rural health doctor or practitioner in the rural health units (RHU). First, the patient is brought in for the initial evaluation, then is referred to a district (municipal) hospital or specialty hospital in the capital. The medical center has specialty doctors to attend to the needs of the mental health patients and if these services are not enough, they can still be referred to the regional hospital for further evaluation and treatment. For those who can afford the cost, they go directly to major or private hospitals for faster evaluation. Aside from PhilHealth (equivalent to BC’s Health Services), patients who have no means to pay their bills or medication are referred to the Dept of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for subsidized medical services and medication once assessed and approved.