On October 25, 2021, The FEU Roosevelt Cainta Health Services Department, in cooperation with the FEU Roosevelt Cainta Student Council, conducted a webinar entitled ‘Creating my Best Reality’ from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM that focuses on spreading mental health awareness amidst pandemic and remote learning set-up. The guest speaker, Mrs. Carlota Y. Casalme, discussed via Microsoft Teams the factors that trigger mental illnesses and gave tips to improve mental health. While it may be that some are more vulnerable than others, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact our mental health. After all, nobody had any idea that the world would be upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that worry, isolation, loneliness, and anxiety would become collective experiences that people will never forget. The speaker advised the students of Junior High School and Senior High School from FEU Roosevelt to make the most of their time to connect and share positive things that happened in their lives.
According to Mrs. Casalme, mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, copes with the normal stresses of life, works productively, and is able to contribute to the community. Every 10th of October, the world celebrates World Mental Health Day. This is the time where people have to stop, rest, and check on themselves how they are doing and feeling. Mrs. Casalme mentioned that a mental illness can shorten people’s lives by 10 to 15 years. Every conversation a person may have about the importance of recognizing and taking mental health issues seriously creates a ripple that reaches others and far beyond it.
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Just like taking care of physical health gives the ability to move and work and the ability to handle problems that may come on the way. There is nothing better than a peaceful and hopeful mind. Taking a walk outside, opening up about thoughts, asking yourself how you are daily, and doing hobbies are some of the things a person can do to maintain a stable mentality. Starting today, destigmatize mental health issues and remove harmful stereotypic judgements from it. Little things matter. Everyone matters.
