Data gathered by the Department of Health and the National Center for Mental Health showed that suicides have risen steadily across the country, as the 2,810 recorded in 2019 has risen to 4,420 in 2020, which was the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of the nation was undergoing through strict lockdowns.
Suicide-related calls received by the NCMH also rose from 712 in 2019 to a whopping 2,841 the following year, and an even more worrying 5,167 in 2021. DOH and NCMH data showed mental health related calls also rising steadily, surging from 2,413 in 2019 to 8,176 in 2020, and on to 9,730 in 2021.
Health officials have also recorded 2,147 suicide attempts in public schools, with 404 students taking their own lives, and that is only for the academic year 2021-2022, when remote learning was the dominant mode of education.
While the numbers are truly worrying, it is not surprising if you consider that there are only about 60 child psychiatrists in our country of more than 100 million. Additionally, many schools, especially the state run ones, lack trained guidance counselors.
Despite this lack of mental health professionals in the country, awareness has thankfully increased in recent years. However, there are still people who are stigmatized when admitting mental health issues and seeking professional help. Youths suffering from depression are often bullied and teens still avoid discussing such issues with their parents.
The country may have passed the Mental Healthcare Act in 2017, but the rising suicides all over the country, especially among the youth, is a worrying symptom of a nationwide disease that continues threaten many young lives. Given the huge gap between the number of qualified professionals and the rising trend in the number of calls being made to hotlines and the NCMH, along with suicide attempts, government has a lot of catching up to do if it is going to provide adequate help for Filipinos who are experiencing mental health issues that could lead to a severe degradation in the quality of life and even death by suicide.*
