BBHU-Lahug hosts mental health forum to some 25 online/digital writers, content creators

 MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY— The Barangay Lahug Behavioral Health Unit (BBHU) headed by psychologist Manuel de Los Santos and the Lahug barangay council led by Michael Paquibot, chair of the Barangay Committee on Health, Hospital Services, and Sanitation hosted a mental health forum to some 25 social media content creators, digital and online media writers and influencers on October 8 at the BBHU-Lahug as its opening salvo in celebration of Mental Health Month for a more sustained advocacy on mental health awareness.

According to Paquibot, the BBHU-Lahug is the only one in the country and a pioneering initiative of Barangay Lahug, launched in 2019 through the efforts of City Councilor Mary Ann de Los Santos. The program is dedicated to provide assistance to the mental health needs of its residents.

Paquibot welcomed the participants to the forum highlighting the importance of mental health and its relevance in a society that has collectively faced the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.  He also lauded the people behind BBHU especially Dr. Manuel de los Santos, the brainchild of the BBHU program and the main speaker of the forum.

The Fundamentals of Mental Health

According to Dr. Manuel De los Santos that mental health issues have been much more prevalent during the past 20 years, particularly among young individuals. The mental health crisis has been referred to as a "second pandemic" by some specialists since it has been accelerated by the pressures of the COVID-19 epidemic and trauma of the previous year.

De los Santos said it is important to learn the basic fundamentals of mental health and must be taken into the integrated health concept, explaining that health, is composed of an individual’s physical, mental, and spiritual domain, the behavior triad that is the result of a person’s thoughts and feelings.

He emphasized the value of cultivating good energy in maintaining a sound mind. This flow of good energy comes from the depth of one’s being.  When a person is filled with this energy, that person feels like he/she can take over the world, and that when good energy is blocked, negativities come in place, he added.

“You have a wellspring of beautiful energy inside of you. When you are open, you feel it. When you are close, you don’t feel it and having a spiritual heart is the key point in allowing good energy to flow into someone’s life,” De los Santos said.

Participants were then presented with an expert-backed and practical guide on how to stay open. Among the strategies presented by de Los Santos was to keep one’s heart and mind open and to deal with any life experience with awareness.

He shared that the most important thing in life is inner energy, which can be improved through meditation, awareness, and willful efforts.

The forum was attended by content creators coming from various groups; some members of Cebu Online News Press Corps, Sugbo Digital Influencers (SugDI), and Bisaya YouTubers Club (BYC).

The Barangay Behavioral Health Unit (BBHU)

Lahug’s Barangay Behavioral Health Unit (BBHU), the only one in the country, aims to educate people down to the grassroots level to be able to reach out to those who urgently needs mental health awareness, prevention and cure.

Among the projects initiated by the BBHU are psycho-educational programs, individual therapies, couple therapy and skills training.  The BBHU is composed of a team of professionals working together to achieve its goals.

To date, BBHU has psychiatrists, two psychologists, and psycho-social workers to cater to people with mental health disorders frequently face significant human rights breaches, discrimination, and stigma.

De los Santos said that many mental health illnesses may be successfully treated for comparatively little money yet, there is still a wide disparity between those who require care and those who have access to it.

“People really don’t know. When you talk about mental health, they talk about - crazy, but mental health is different from mental disorder,” de Los Santos shared and hopes to redefine mental health through this program.

The BBHU is open to help and accommodate anyone who needs mental health assistance. The group is working together with medical groups in Metro Cebu to cater emergency cases.

The BBHU will hold another forum on mental health disorders next week to further spread awareness on the matter.  Its office is located at the Lahug Barangay Hall- Health Center. (Photos: MBCNewman)