Helpline for college students: Yamsuan eyes stronger mental health services in SUCs

Parañaque 2nd District Representative Brian Yamsuan has pushed for the establishment of readily accessible mental health services in all State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) to address the rising cases of anxiety and depression among young Filipinos.

He has filed House Bill (HB) 7354, which aims to establish a Mental Health Office (MHO) in every SUC to complement recent efforts by the Department of Education (DepEd) to provide a 24/7 helpline for students in elementary and secondary schools.

“While the DepEd has been focused on ensuring the mental well-being of students in the basic education sector, no such initiative has been institutionalized at the tertiary level to benefit college students, who are as vulnerable to emotional stress, depression and even bullying,” Yamsuan said.

Yamsuan was referring to the DepEd’s nationwide launching last week of its Learners TeleSafe Contact Center Helpline #33733, which will bring immediate mental health support to elementary and high school students by providing them a direct connection to the National Center for Mental Health Crisis Hotline.

“Our proposed legislation will address these gaps in the implementation of government programs aimed at effectively responding to the growing mental health crisis among our youth,” Yamsuan said.

Yamsuan expressed concern over the results of a nationwide survey done in 2021 by the University of the Philippines Population Institute, which found that 7.5 percent of Filipino youth aged 15 to 24 have experienced suicidal thoughts, or more than double the 3 percent recorded in 2013. Those who said they felt depressed rose from 7 percent in 2013 to 11 percent in 2021.

In 2023, the country recorded 3,133 deaths due to intentional self-harm, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). About 30 percent of these deaths occurred among individuals aged 15 to 24 years old, Yamsuan likewise pointed out.

“Hindi lamang academic pressure kundi stress, anxiety, depression at iba pang mental health concerns ang maaring maranasan ng mga college students, lalo na kung sila ay nagtratrabaho habang nag-aaral, o kaya naman ay malayo sa pamilya,” he said.

Under Yamsuan’s bill, the MHOs he proposes to be established will take charge of setting up hotlines with dedicated and trained guidance counselors who can provide assistance, not just to students, but all the members of the SUC community.

If the bill becomes law, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will be tasked with requiring all SUCs to establish an MHO in all their campuses, subject to the rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The CHED and SUCs, through their MHOs, shall initiate and sustain a heightened campaign to raise the collective consciousness about mental health, especially among students. The campaign shall give special emphasis to issues of suicide prevention, stress handling, mental health and nutrition, and guidance and counseling.

SUCs are also mandated under HB 7354 to implement mental health programs and projects, and man their respective MHOs with trained mental health professionals.

HB 7354 authorizes SUCs to hire mental health professionals either on a full-time or contractual basis. They are also authorized to hire and train college graduates with backgrounds in psychology or similar fields to provide mental health services under the supervision of qualified mental health professionals.

To address the scarcity of personnel in the mental health field, the bill tasks the CHED, in coordination with the DBM, CSC, Department of Health (DOH) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), to prepare a professional and career development plan for mental health professionals. These should include provisions on personal wellness, merit promotion, performance evaluation, in-service training, graduate scholarships, research grants and incentive awards system.

The career development plan should also provide competitive salary and pay progression rates and the periodic training and upskilling of mental health professionals.

“We hope that our fellow lawmakers will recognize the urgency in passing this measure that aims to institutionalize mental health services in SUCs. The lack of mental health support does not only affect academic outcomes, but also one’s personal well-being, and sadly, could sometimes lead to self-harm,” Yamsuan said.

Yamsuan noted that a similar bill was approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading in the 19th Congress, and that then Senator Sonny Angara was among the principal authors of the counterpart measure in the Senate. ###