It’s easy to access home health care in the Philippines for a number of mental illnesses and incapacities like dementia, Alzheimer’s, autism, and a lot more but even then, there are many silent afflictions that slip past even specialized and personalized care like anxiety and depression. In 2016, the country gave greater attention to the issue of mental health after the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasized on the subject with the focus on providing “psychological first aid.” Hopeline, a suicide hotline ((02) 804-4637; 0917-5584673; and 2919 for Globe and TM subscribers), was also established as free service where people can “seek support” according to WHO Country Representative Gundo Weiler but even an ubiquitous services like this help line cannot be 100% relied on. That is why we must be aware (of other and of our selves) of the signs that could indicate that you or a loved one may possibly going through depression. Depression is very covert and it is most of the time very hard to discern between natural emotional response in the form of sadness and grief and when these signals cross over to full blown depression (sometimes, depression takes no external manifestation at all like in the case of Julia Buencamino). Read on through to find out some signs that could indicate that someone you love might be suffering through depression. They are always “Busy” According to Margaret Rutherford, PhD from Fayetteville Arkansas, people who might be struggling with feelings try to bury these in a mountain of activities they can focus on like a hobby, chores, and most of all work, that way they can protect themselves from persistent bouts with depression. This busy-ness may also be compounded by depressive people actually feeling real physical pain like muscular pains as well as tiredness in that they could attribute these pains to their lifestyle instead of depression. They put in a lot of Effort to Appear Happy In the same way that they try to protect themselves from depression, they also try to protect people around them. In an attempt to unburden others, they try to keep a positive and happy demeanor. Especially with the stigma of mental illness, and that depression can be cured by “just being happy”, they could be hiding something that is eating them and, because they are very good with covering up their own issues, they could be very successful in masking their depression. Their Routines, Favorites, Interests, and Hobbies Change or Become Unappealing Like we said, people with depression tend to be really good at making up cover up stories and they could easily get away with claiming they are “just not in the mood” to do something that they would normally enjoy. Be very vigilant of these signs as at least these change in behavior and attitude towards things they like could help you discern if a someone you love could be silently suffering. They have strong Opinions about Life & Death, to an expressive & Creative Level Even In the Philippines, art is one way to express emotions and if someone you care about at home seems to be very opinionated about life and death, his mental health may be at risk. This is because depressive people are very contemplative and think about how they fit into the world and this manifests in the way they view life & death and express it in creative ways. They might make very Subtle & Silent Shouts for Help Sometimes, and maybe in very rare moments, people with depression will “scream silently”. Do not take these little attempts to try to reach out lightly. Someone who is struggling to keep the depression inside might have had one too much and just needs someone to talk to them, stay vigilant of these very, very subtle outcries. These could come off as joke, and a person who suffers from depression might just immediately “snap out of it” and realize that he’ll just burden you with sharing so they pretend say that it’s nothing—when these situations arise, just be there. Don’t drag it out. Just assure them that you’re always listening. Hopefully, they’ll come around and what’s eating them can be talked about in better detail. Whether it be mild or severe, we can’t say for sure if someone is secretly suffering but we must be vigilant and open our eyes and hearts to those who might be silently screaming. Depression is something that medication, special care, or home health care in the Philippines can easily combat—it’s a very hard road to be in and to tread every day—but with the proper help and a genuine effort to reach out to, to help, and to reassure people who are suffering that it is all going to be OK, depression is something we can win against.
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