TABUK CITY, Kalinga – With the rising cases of suicide in the city, the City Health Services Office (CHSO) advises the public to take good care of their mental health.
In accordance with nurse Jandel Taguiam, there were six completed suicide instances in 2023, however, from January to April 22, there were 11 completed suicide cases, which is quite concerning.
One victim, according to Taguiam, is under the age of 19, while the other victims, including one senior citizen, are all between the ages of 20 and above.
Mental Health, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with stress.
“𝐾𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑢𝑤𝑒𝑛 𝑘𝑒𝑡 number one 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑢 𝑖𝑡𝑖 mental health problems 𝑘𝑒𝑡 stress,” he said.
(This means that the number one cause of mental health problems is stress.)
He went on to say that everyone needs to learn how to regularly cope with stressful situations and to control their level of stress.
Poor concentration is one sign and symptom of stress, particularly in the workplace, according to Taguiam, who advised anyone noticing this symptom in a co-worker or client to make extra effort to talk to them.
“Let us be open 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖 communicate 𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎𝑑𝑎 𝑡𝑎 𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑤𝑎𝑛 𝑛𝑔𝑎 cases 𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑢 𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑔-confidan 𝑛𝑎 (victim),” he said.
(Because most of our cases involve victims who have no one to talk to, let’s be open to communicating with them (the suspected victims), he said.
Taguiam continued saying that other symptoms include memory lapses, negative attitude, forgetfulness, confusion and worrying too much.
Taguiam underlined that individuals ought to be more considerate of others and sympathetic to persons exhibiting the symptoms mentioned, and they ought to take threats or statements made by them seriously.
“𝐻𝑎𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑢 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑘𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎 that is not a funny thing,” he said.
(Let us not laugh at them because that is not a funny thing.)
Taguiam concluded by asking everyone to act as mental health wellness agents and be ready and available to talk to anyone experiencing mental health issues by encouraging them to communicate to others, to be honest with themselves, and seek for help. By Edward Joseph Gacuya