Mental illnesses on the rise in RP

Cases of mental illness in the country are on the rise with the increase in population, but the Filipinos’ faith in God and sense of humor help them cope with situations that can lead to insanity, psychiatrists said yesterday.

Dr. Noel Reyes, a psychiatrist at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in Mandaluyong City, said one of the most common brain diseases among Filipinos is schizophrenia, which afflicts one percent of the total population.

"It (cases of mental illness) increases as the population increases. For example for schizophrenia, if we are now 88 million, expect that 880,000 of us are schizophrenic," Reyes said at a recent health forum.

Dr. Lourdes Ignacio, president of the Philippine Psychiatrists Association (PPA), said some of the factors that trigger the disease include stress factors like traffic, loss of loved ones, disasters and even bombings.

Among overseas Filipino workers, Ignacio said seamen were found to be the most vulnerable to mental disorders because they tend to rely on alcohol or drugs to ease their homesickness.

Reyes explained that the increase in the incidence of mental illness was also due to the widespread use of prohibited drugs.

He said the Dangerous Drugs Board recently released data, which shows that eight million Filipinos are drug users.

"Drug addicts or substance abusers have dual diagnosis: substance addiction or substance dependence, and psychiatric disorder whether it’s depression, anxiety," Reyes said, adding that these patients become drug addicts because they are self-medicating.

"Some of the statistics in the hospital would say that yes, they started as saying they have psychiatric disorder but they end up being addicts. These factors add up to the mental health of the Philippines," he said.

However, Ignacio said Filipinos have their own natural coping mechanism compared to other nationalities.

She said Filipinos’ strong faith in God, sense of humor and concern for others, are among the mechanisms that help them cope with depression.

"We are very much crisis-oriented and we have natural ways of coping with it," she said.

Ignacio said they consider these as forms of coping with mental disorders even without scientific basis.

Reyes said some mental patients could function normally again after being treated.

"Of course, for example, a bank manager suffered from schizophrenia, he or she cannot go back as a bank manager, but as a clerk. There is some form of regression but in terms of symptoms, they are free from symptoms, but their functioning has already regressed in some form," he said.

On the other hand, Ignacio revealed that the Philippines is facing an acute shortage of psychiatrists due to the unabated migration of mental health doctors who seek greener pastures abroad.

She said there are only 400 psychiatrists in the country, and most them are in the National Capital Region.

Ignacio said the provinces of Cotabato and Surigao, in particular, lack the service of psychiatrists.

According to Reyes, some of the symptoms of schizophrenia include a change in behavior, forgetting basic functions such as in personal hygiene, social and occupational dysfunction like when the person does not want to go back to work.

"There is really a need to consult a professional," he said.