Leya's Institute Mental Health Advocacy
Youth Mental Health Advocacy
Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health is a basic human right. And it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. For example, harsh parenting and physical punishment is known to undermine child health and bullying is a leading risk factor for mental health conditions.
It is normal for children and youth to experience various types of emotional distress as they develop and mature. For example, it is common for children to experience anxiety about school, or youth to experience short periods of depression that are transient in nature. While most youth are healthy, physically and emotionally, one in every four to five youth in the general population meet criteria for a lifetime mental disorder and as a result may face discrimination and negative attitudes. In the Philippines, 3.3 million Filipinos live with depressive disorders, with suicides rates of 2.5 males and 1.7 females per 100,000 persons, according to the Department of Health. The World Health Organization (WHO) also reported over 2,000 cases of suicide from 2000 to 2012, most of which involved people aged 15 to 29 years old. Among Filipino youth aged 13 to 17, 11.6% have contemplated taking their lives and an alarming 16.8% have attempted to do so. Youth with mental health disorders may face challenges in their homes, school, community, and interpersonal relationships. Despite these challenges, for most youth, mental health distress is episodic, not permanent, and most can successfully navigate the challenges that come from experiencing a mental health disorder with treatment, peer and professional supports and services, and a strong family and social support network.
Several studies shown that adolescents with mental health conditions are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, discrimination, stigma (affecting readiness to seek help), educational difficulties, risk-taking behavior, physical ill-health and human rights violations. These include adopting healthy sleep patterns; exercising regularly, developing coping, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills; and learning to manage emotions. Multiple factors affect mental health.
The more risk factors adolescents are exposed to, the greater the potential impact on their mental health. Media influence and gender norms can exacerbate the disparity between an adolescent's lived reality and their perceptions or aspirations for the future. Other important determinants include the quality of their home life and relationships with peers. Some adolescents are at greater risk of mental health conditions due to their living conditions, stigma, discrimination or exclusion, or lack of access to quality support and services. It is also crucial to recognize and mitigate mental health issues early, and identify risk factors for future mental illness- including violence, neglect, abuse, school drop-out, poverty and parental mental illness. When adolescents do seek help, the care and services they require are often either not available or not responsive to their needs and of poor quality.
Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health is a basic human right. And it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. For example, harsh parenting and physical punishment is known to undermine child health and bullying is a leading risk factor for mental health conditions.
It is normal for children and youth to experience various types of emotional distress as they develop and mature. For example, it is common for children to experience anxiety about school, or youth to experience short periods of depression that are transient in nature. While most youth are healthy, physically and emotionally, one in every four to five youth in the general population meet criteria for a lifetime mental disorder and as a result may face discrimination and negative attitudes. In the Philippines, 3.3 million Filipinos live with depressive disorders, with suicides rates of 2.5 males and 1.7 females per 100,000 persons, according to the Department of Health. The World Health Organization (WHO) also reported over 2,000 cases of suicide from 2000 to 2012, most of which involved people aged 15 to 29 years old. Among Filipino youth aged 13 to 17, 11.6% have contemplated taking their lives and an alarming 16.8% have attempted to do so. Youth with mental health disorders may face challenges in their homes, school, community, and interpersonal relationships. Despite these challenges, for most youth, mental health distress is episodic, not permanent, and most can successfully navigate the challenges that come from experiencing a mental health disorder with treatment, peer and professional supports and services, and a strong family and social support network.
Several studies shown that adolescents with mental health conditions are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, discrimination, stigma (affecting readiness to seek help), educational difficulties, risk-taking behavior, physical ill-health and human rights violations. These include adopting healthy sleep patterns; exercising regularly, developing coping, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills; and learning to manage emotions. Multiple factors affect mental health.
The more risk factors adolescents are exposed to, the greater the potential impact on their mental health. Media influence and gender norms can exacerbate the disparity between an adolescent's lived reality and their perceptions or aspirations for the future. Other important determinants include the quality of their home life and relationships with peers. Some adolescents are at greater risk of mental health conditions due to their living conditions, stigma, discrimination or exclusion, or lack of access to quality support and services. It is also crucial to recognize and mitigate mental health issues early, and identify risk factors for future mental illness- including violence, neglect, abuse, school drop-out, poverty and parental mental illness. When adolescents do seek help, the care and services they require are often either not available or not responsive to their needs and of poor quality.
Date started and ended
January 18, 2023 to present
Platform used
Facebook and Wix.com
Team member and roles
-Project Manager - Leya Onias
-Data Analyst - Daisy Rie Balictar - Marius Jade Bolivar
-Content Writer & Editor - Rainer Austria
-Web Designer - Sherwin Allan Labro
-Web Developer - Wilmarie Patungan
Planning
I think about it properly, what is really the biggest problem that people have and it is the problem of mental health. I plan things that I know will help my team and other people. I did careful planning because it's no joke to have a problem when it comes to thinking, it won't be solved immediately. My plan is to help people who are struggling to recover from the depression they are facing because I know it is difficult but I want to reduce their depression.