EDITORIAL - Weak reasoning

Depression and other mental health issues are as old as humanity. And crying is not a sign of weakness; even missing-in-action Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief, has been seen tearing up in public.

Dela Rosa’s colleague in the Senate minority bloc, Robinhood Padilla, has drawn flak for saying that today’s Filipino youths are weak and crybabies, unlike those of his time in the 1980s and 1990s who were street-smart and who were mostly not acquainted with the word depression.

You wonder in which social circles Padilla moved around in his youth. Drugs called antidepressants have been commercially available since the 1950s, precisely to treat depression and related mood disorders.

Amid the criticisms, the 56-year-old Padilla doubled down on his statement by citing data that suicides are on the rise, and that he was not merely expressing an opinion but a reality.

How suicide squares with his theory on youth weakness is not clear. Psychiatrists and mental wellness advocates slammed Padilla for oversimplifying a complex problem and aggravating the burden of those suffering from mental health issues, including students subjected to various forms of bullying and abuse.

Perhaps the actor-turned-senator will understand the reaction of TV host Kim Atienza, whose daughter Emman struggled with mental health issues before her death in October last year.

“A little kindness (and understanding) goes a long way,” Atienza posted online. “While views may differ on how depression is understood across generations, one thing is clear: support should always be available.”

Padilla had given his assessment of today’s younger generations during a Senate hearing on the proposed Children’s Safety in Social Media Act.

Mental health issues and suicide are as complex as the illegal drug problem, which Padilla’s mentor who is detained in The Hague had also oversimplified and addressed through a mass extermination program. These problems call for multisectoral, multipronged approaches.

Shaming depressed youth by calling them weak simply aggravates the problem. And to say that the younger generations are weak crybabies who can’t handle depression is an argument of the weak-minded.