What to do when dealing with people with mental health problems?
In the Philippines, there is still stigma on people with mental health problems or disorders. Most often, people do not know how to react and to deal with these people, especially in emergency situations. Sometimes, actions taken do more harm than good. I'll be sharing some things we can do when faced with situations involving people with extreme anger management issues and suicidal tendencies.
Note that I am not using very technical terms as that would need a lot of clarifications which might overshadow the main topic. Also, I have chosen these situations since the cases have become quite alarming (especially suicide).
Suicide risk management
When someone appears suicidal, there is a tendency to feel unsettled because we do not know what to do. But what's worse is that we think we know what to do or say and end up escalating the situation. When you see signs of being suicidal from your friend or family member, be there for them, talk to them, be a friend but do not handle the situation on your own (if you are not an expert). Ask help from the right people.
What to do:
1) Ask questions
As sensitive as the situation is, we need to be direct with our questions to know whether the person has Passive or Active Suicidal Ideation.
| Suicidal Ideation | Thoughts about Killing oneself |
|---|---|
| Passive Suicidal ideation | has the desire to die but does not have a plan to carry it out or hasn't acted on it yet |
| Active Suicidal ideation | the desire to die comes with a plan to carry out the suicide. The person may have already started to act on it (i.e. more unusual acts, writing suicide notes, or starting to give away important belongings). |
- Do you have thoughts of killing yourself?
- Do you think about commiting suicide? If the answer is Yes,
2) Find out if he/she already have plans.
- Do you have plans of killing yourself?
- How will you kill yourself?
a) If the answer is No or there are no plans (passive), give them alternatives:
- get in touch with counselors; suicide hotline; talk to family or friends
b) If the answer is Yes (active),
3) know if the person has the means to do it
- Do you have access to the materials? IF YES, contact:
a) the parents;
b) or guardians;
c) or authority figures (if the person is already in imminent danger or needs medical attention, call this first);
d) or significant others (make sure they are not the reason);
e) if there are no means for you to call anyone, bring the person to the hospital Emergency room
For those of you who do not know, we already have a 24/7 suicide prevention hotline in the Philippines. This is for people dealing with emotional crisis or has suicidal thoughts who needs mental help.
| Hopeline Philippines | (02) 804-4673; 0917-5584673; and 2919 for Globe and TM subscribers |
|---|---|
| Hopeline Cebu or tawag paglaum - Centro Bisaya. Know more here | 0917-558-2919 / 0939-937-5433 / 0939-936-5433 / 0927-654-1629 |
| emergency telephone number in the Philippines | 9-1-1 |
Unusual acts. Explosive outbursts of anger and violence
Sometimes, we see a situation where a person with mental health problem/s burst out of anger, becomes violent (to self & others) or does unusual acts in public. In their case, there is a huge part of themselves that they cannot control especially when triggered and when feeling intense emotions (e.g. anger, rage, anxiety).
Being aware that a person has mental health problems or has already been diagnosed with a disorder makes a big difference in knowing how to handle the situation. Telling that person that he/she is insane and throwing curses & angry words at him/her does not actually help, all the more beating the person to near death! This will not calm the person which I presume is what we want to do.
Do not beat up the person just because he/she annoys you. If one becomes violent, call the authorities. If you want to keep the person under control for the meantime, subdue him but do not beat him to death, and most especially do not provoke or taunt the person. They are vulnerable and unpredictable, we can't tell how they would react and the law protects them from being convicted if proven mentally unstable.
A note
To my fellow Filipinos, telling a "BUANG or LOKO-LOKO (crazy; insane) person that he/she is "BUANG or LOKO-LOKO" and treating him/her like an outcast whom we could not share the same air with out of fear of being contaminated will not help the person; and it will definitely not heal his/her broken soul. People with mental health problems hide their symptoms and do not seek help out of fear and embarrassment.
We condemn people with mental health problems or disorders for being insane but we condone the actions of normal people doing crazy hurtful acts that could harm others. The difference? Choices.
We see them for what they are, a disorder -no more than a broken mind in a body, instead of helping them see who they are, a human being; a person worth the effort and help. The person has a disorder, that person is not his/her disorder. People with mental health problems are to be respected equally. Let us stop the stigma and let them know that it is okay to ask for help.
Thank you for dropping by. I hope I have imparted something to you on your visit here.
Stay Strong. 💪 👊
image source: wordpress
Other information and sources:
- Senate Bill No. 1354 - Bill of the Mental Health Act of 2017 has also already been approved. Read more
- For other Emergency hotlines in the Philippines, click here.
- http://ucc.nd.edu/self-help/depression-suicide/helping-someone-in-a-suicidal-crisis/
- http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/healthandwellness/581203/24-hour-suicide-prevention-hotline-launched-by-doh-who-ngf/story/
- http://www.sunstar.com.ph/network/local-news/2017/02/13/relationship-problems-top-concern-reported-suicide-hotline-524857