Amazing Jing for Life: The real status of NCMH and its program to counteract ECQ-Driven Depression and Anxiety

The real status of NCMH and its program to counteract ECQ-Driven Depression and Anxiety

NCMH Chief, Dr. Roland Cortez during the media forum held last April 28, 2020

Aside from physical health, protection, security, financial, and economic stabilty problems that we all are facing because they are all correlated with the dreadful CoVid-19 virus Pandemic, what do you think is the next important aspect that we should not ignore and must take care of very seriously?

Your guess is as good as mine. It's mental health. Because of the growing speculations and ignorance of the others, the NCMH (National Center for Mental Health) Chief, Dr. Roland Cortez has finally decided to have a media forum the other day to inform the public of their real status in a lockdown situation caused by CoVid-19.

I was fortunate enough to join him and other media outfits in a panel via Zoom video conference.

The media forum with Dr. Roland Cortez and other media people

(photo credit to my good blogger/friend www.raindeocampo.com)

At first, Dr. Cortez had informed everyone that the hospital has a record of 60 employees positive with CoVid-19, and 11 of them, had recovered while for the 16 patients that were tested positive with the said virus, one has recovered. It can be a great deal for them and for all of us, right? Knowing their statistics, it only means that a lot of people in the institution are at risk and they are taking a great leap out of it.

Good thing, Dr. Cortez also mentioned that, they had transformed one of their pavillions (Pavillion 7) into an isolation center, with a 100-bed capacity wherein CoVid-19 positive patients are being treated here.

Since the ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) has been extended, we could expect a relevant number of people suffering from Pandemic or lockdown-driven depression, anxiety and nervousness. According to Dr. Cortez, “Depression is on the rise because of the feeling of uncertainty. Those who are affected by it are asking: When will I go back to work? Do I still have work after the ECQ? How do I feed my family? When will we stop depending on government aid? When will COVID-19 be totally eradicated?”

All these worries, all those queries and fear could possibly lead to anxieties then later on depression. This is expected in our type of community lockdown set-up, that is why this elevated stat on depression could be counteracted if our government has clear guidelines to help the people. Dr. Cortez also mentioned that, since the outbreak, they are now only accepting patients who are suicidal and who are capable of hurting other people.

Dr. Cortez said, about 200 people call the 24-hour hotline numbers (0917-898-8727 and 989-8727) of the hospital everyday since the ECQ was implemented in Luzon last month.

He also discussed about the probabilty of the senior citizens and the young ones being affected emotionally because of the lockdown. He suggested that “Parents should reassure their kids that the ECQ is temporary; that when it is lifted, they can play again outside the house or with their friends."

His over-all suggested program for everyone in an ECQ mode, most especially for the ones who are starting to lose hope, to feel helpless, sad, and depress about our situation, he said that to have a healthy and positive outlook in life like watching feel-good movies, listen to your fave songs, clean the house or read inspiring books.

Refrain from watching bad or negative news, do not entertain negative ideas, sleep at least eight hours daily but do not oversleep, drink eight glasses of water to hydrate ourselves most especially this summer season. Have time to exercise regularly, we can also have a brisk walk inside our houses ( like I do too) , eat and drink healthy. Do deep breathing exercises to strengthen our lungs. Do not smoke, no alcohol drinking ( it's really prohibited, fyi) and don't do drugs. Dr. Cortez also highly recommends that we should explore other things like we channel the artists within us, like engage ourselves to painting, poetry, or learn to play an instrument.

Part having a healthy lifestyle is being open-minded and engaging ourselves meditation. practice mindfulness and the most important thing, PRAY.

If you can relate to this article or if you know anyone who's suffering from this mental state, please do your part in heeding these suggestions and much better if will share to to those you think could also benefit from what Dr. Cortez had suggested.