Saving souls

Part 1

Every 40 seconds, someone commits suicide somewhere in the world. This is the stunning data culled from the International Association for Suicide Prevention or IASP based in Boston, Massachusetts. In the Philippines, the actual number of those suffering from all kinds of depression – and more so those who give in to suicidal tendencies – is hard to come by. From what The STAR has been able to find, the latest figures are from 2004. Depression is either unnoticed, undetected, ignored, unreported or outright dismissed as one of those things people experience. It is often misinterpreted as simple frustration or lovesickness, a passing phase. Very, very few even open a discussion about negative feelings. Students often have only an under-equipped or jaded guidance counselor. And in conservative Asian societies like the Philippines, suicide is never discussed. It is taboo, a mark of shame.

In the United States, an estimated 37 percent of the working population deemed in stressful careers suffer from mild to high-risk depression. In the Philippines, the understated documented number is 32 percent or almost one-third. What is frightening is that 24 percent of the youth (aged 14 to 32) are likewise silently afflicted. The barefaced projection based on current trends is that, by 2020 or just a little over two years from now, depression will be the second-largest killer among the youth. That in itself is depressing. 

“The issue is mental health, and it is very hard to raise funds, because it isn’t spoken about,” explains internationally acclaimed fashion designer Jeannie Goulbourn, owner of Silk Cocoon. “As of even seven or eight years ago, companies didn’t want their names associated with programs that they supported that were anti-suicide or prevention of depression. The minute people hear the word ‘suicide’, they freeze.”

According to data provided by groups like Helpline, there are four dominant problem areas that callers in the Philippines seek emotional help with. Number one is love or relationship dilemmas. This is the most common matter phoned in. Second but rising fast are gender issues, which include confusion about identity, uncertainty over sexual orientation, lack of confidence with one’s body, and so on. A close third for now is family issues and pressures, especially in lower income groups. A scarily surprising fourth is bullying, in the workplace, at school and on the cruelest platform of all, social media. Trolls have taken to wantonly dealing psychological beatings to the innocent, the unsuspecting, or just anyone they can vent their ire on. Most often, they hide in anonymity, their identities hidden behind fake names or other people’s photos.

Why, in this age of instantaneous digital dissemination, is the scale of the problems of depression and suicide so hard to pin down? Firstly, families very rarely talk about it. It carries a certain societal stigma of shame, as if there was something wrong with the entire family if a member took their own life. The same norm applies to students. How many would – pardon the expression – be caught dead walking into the guidance counselor’s office? Thus, the walking wounded carry their hidden demons until they are overcome, unable to cope alone. And if this is the case with Filipinos who are already in their own environment, how much worse is it for Overseas Filipino Workers? They face the same stresses, but are far from their support system. Yet, we do not hear reports of their untimely passing. Why? Police don’t really investigate suicides, do they? Once someone is dead, it can be reported as a heart attack, stroke, or anything congenitally fatal. And once again, families do not speak of this evil that has claimed so many casualties. 

Goulbourn, the designer of choice of the elite, the famous and about half of the country’s lawmakers, speaks eloquently and passionately about the toll it has taken on so many. This epidemic, if you will, strikes home very deeply for her. Seventeen years ago, her daughter Natasha took her own life. It devastated Jeannie, as it would have any loving mother. After grieving, Jeannie faced a challenging decision: get mired in the sadness, or lift herself up and do something about it. Thus was born the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation 10 years ago, which, with help from the Department of Health and concerned psychologists and mental health experts from around the globe, brings this delicate issue to light, and puts it on the table for discussion and exploration.