In regards to the state of mental health awareness in the Philippines, according to WHO or
World Health Organization, public education and awareness campaigns on mental health are
coordinating bodies that oversee public education and awareness campaigns on mental health and
mental disorders. Government agencies, NGOs, professional associations, and private foundations have
promoted public education and awareness campaigns, in their own capacity, in the last five years. These
campaigns have targeted the following groups: the general population, children, adolescents, women,
and trauma survivors. In addition, there have been public education and awareness campaigns targeting
professional groups, including health care providers and teachers.
Nowadays, research on help-seeking behaviour is focused on the influences of social
perspectives on the use of professional care. In addition to the influence from friends and family, society
and governmental policy contribute to help-seeking behaviour.
Rickwood et al. (2005) studied help-seeking for mental health problems in adolescents through
an individual approach. Rickwood described the influence from social perspectives as the interpersonal
domain of seeking help. Although, the purpose for seeking help is personal, a person has to rely on
others to employ help and therefore a person has to engage in social interactions. The first step in the
process, according to Rickwood is the point where the individual becomes aware of his problems and
realizes help is needed. Consequently, the individual has to be able to express his problems to the
outside world. Rickwood states that this ability to express emotions and symptoms is independent of
the source of help an individual aims to employ, since both informal help and professional help can only
be addressed by expressing symptoms and emotions to the outside world. To be able to employ
professional help, an individual needs to be aware of the possible interventions and treatments.
Additionally, all possibilities need to be accessible for the help-seeking individual.
We all know that anybody can experience mental health difficulties at any time, and so, there
are some factors affecting our mental health. One of them is the amount of stress you are experiencing
in the different aspects of your life, your level of self esteem, your involvement in a social network,
work or home, relationships with family and friends , your physical well-being your own support
network, whether you are eating and sleeping well, how well you are able to look after yourself, the
balance between work/relaxation duty/pleasure, drugs and alcohol, and lastly, experiencing a sense of
loss or bereavement and losing a job.