Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 28) — More people have been experiencing anxiety and depression since the community quarantine started in March, the National Center for Mental Health said.
The center said it has recorded a spike in the number of callers to their crisis hotline to around 300 to 400 calls a month from 60 to 80 calls before the quarantine.
“Meaning to say, there are a lot of people who want to communicate with experts in the crisis hotline mostly due to anxiety, depression because of the quarantine and lockdown going on,” Dr. Rolando Cortez, the NCMH director, said on Thursday in a Senate hearing on proposed amendments to the Mental Health Act.
The Health Department has also said that among the sectors experiencing mental health problems are overseas Filipino workers, who are forced to go home due to the effects of COVID-19 at their workplace and frontliners like doctors and nurses who are exposed to COVID-19 patients.
For his part, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is pushing for additional benefits and assistance to people who have any mental health condition and require psychiatric or psychosocial care.
The benefits shall apply when the mental disability is sustained while in the performance of duty or by reason of position at work, the senator proposed.
Angara cited the case of retired Corporal Winston Ragos, a retired soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who was shot dead by police for refusing to follow quarantine protocols.
Angara also called on PhilHealth to increase the subsidy for mental health issues.
“Para hindi na sana maulit ‘yung mga ganoong klaseng mga insidente kasi ang conclusion seems to be that if he had access to his medicines perhaps the incident could have been prevented and he could’ve acted in a different manner,” he said.
[Translation: Hopefully there would be no repetition of these kinds of incidents, because the conclusion seems to be that if he had access to his medicines perhaps the incident could have been prevented and he could’ve acted in a different manner.]
Health Secretary Francisco Duque also said they will review the case rates for people with mental health issues.
