the fact that here in the Philippines, different cultural
ideas can affect a person’s willingness to be cured
FLAVIO, Janella Anne Mae P.
Humanities and Social Sciences
THE LEVEL OF
IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL
HEALTH CONSULTATIONS
AMONG FILIPINO
ADOLESCENTS
Keywords: mental health, consultation, professional
help, Filipino adolescents, counselling, psychotherapy,
Philippines
ABSTRACT
The research intended to know the level of
importance towards mental health consultations among
Filipino Adolescents. It focuses more on the study in
the number of young people who doesn’t consider
mental health practitioners whereas it resulted with the
same conclusion prior to the study. Most of them
doesn’t think about it in these days because of the
different barriers that hinder them from getting help.
The researcher conducted the study in a school setting
because it is composed of young adolescents that are
needed for this. It was executed through the use of
online questionnaires via google forms in a span of 3
weeks and the data that was gathered was interpreted
and elaborated thoroughly. The researcher found out
that mental health consultations nowadays for young
people don’t matter as much as they think about the
best for them. Social stigma is still present in this
modern day and it is the main reason why they are
refusing it even if most of them are experiencing
emotional distress that is mostly cause by academics.
INTRODUCTION
Mental Health is such a big problem
nowadays, most specially to a particular age group that
ranges from 5-16 years old. It can actually affect
anyone at any time in their lives but that specific group
that was mentioned are the people who are prone to it
(Mental Health Foundation, 2016). There are options
to be considered like seeking for professional help but
the stigma that surrounds the issue is the major factor
on why they hinder themselves from consulting. Given
because this typical mindset of the people sets back
most Filipinos from going to a doctor to ask for
professional opinion (Tugade, 2017).
World Health Organization states that mental
health is a state of mind which includes the way how
we think, feel and handle into a certain situation. It
also revolves around a person’s emotional,
psychological and social capability which can be a
help to determine and distinguish the capacity to
handle circumstances like stress and decision making.
Consultation by Merriam Webster meaning is
a contemplation between a patient and a professional
medical licensed official. Licensed professionals when
it comes to mental health are clinical psychologist,
school, psychologist, clinical social worker, Licensed
Professional Counsellor and psychiatrist (Mental
Health America).
According to the Community for Accredited
Online Schools, there are 7 leading mental health
problems that can affect a student’s academic
performance such as anxiety and stress which lead to
racing thoughts, poor judgement and impaired
memory. Another one is depression which makes a
student unproductive to be engaged into a day to day
activities. Depression doesn’t only affect a person’s
academic status but rather it targets the whole well-
being. It constrains the capability of a person to excel
and make a progress. Drugs and alcohol addiction are
also rampant among teenagers. This is the time where
they are being engaged to this kind of vices influenced
by their peers. To fully support the idea, the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Task Force administered a study about the relation of
alcohol usage to poor academic performance. They
also found out that there’s a direct effect between the
number of alcohol intake weekly and their grades.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is
also being related to mental behaviours that can affect
a student’s academic performance which includes loss
of focus, getting bored easily, fidgeting and constant
talking. In addition to this, ADHD can also be linked
to other mental health issues. Some of the people who
have ADHD also suffer from mental illness such as
depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. Eating
disorders should also be monitored because it is not
only a problem with food but it can be worst and
prompt to a long term repercussion. Students with
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD can
inevitably create a compulsive thought that can result
to difficulty when it comes to academic activity. The
last one is PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
which can have a consequential effect on a student’s
cognitive capacity. Along with that are the impacts of

PTSD such as disordered sleeping or eating patterns
and lack of motivation and concentration.
Regardless of several free counselling services
inside the campus, students still opt to keep their
problems to their selves. It has been shown that only a
percentage of students use that privilege (Firmante,
2017). Since there are a lot of people who are
completely clueless about this particular issue. This
study aims to spread awareness and knowledge about
psychological help-seeking and how medical
practitioners can help them. This research also wants
to know the different factors on why they hinder
themselves from getting professional help.
Stigma is also one of the main reasons why
Filipino students choose to ignore it. Due to the fact
that Philippines does not openly embrace what mental
health really is. Filipinos have this mindset that
whenever someone is seeking for a psychological or
psychiatric service, he/she is considered to be insane
and lunatic (Borja, 2017). It is really perceptible that
Filipinos are not really aware and open about it
because most of them have this idea that those
illnesses can be cured by sleeping, praying or a good
relaxation.
This study covers a variety of adolescents that
ranges from 16-18 years old as its respondents. There’s
an exclusivity with the age because the research
focuses more on the adolescent stage. The specific
respondents will be students from different chosen
schools who are namely: Treston International College,
University of Makati, Makati High School, Global
City Innovative College and Jose Rizal University.
Different data shows that more students are
fully unaware and doesn’t consider professional help.
Adolescents and young adults are commonly
experiencing mental health problems and most of them
are refusing with only 18%-34% of people who are
getting professional advice whenever they feel like
they need to (Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, 2010).
In a 5 young people, 1 suffers from mental problem
but the worst case is that 60% of adolescents feel
uncomfortable towards mental health consultations
(Scott & Quinn, 2014). That’s why it can be a
possibility that this research will have a conclusion
that the chosen respondents also don’t consider it
which can be due to different factors such as stigma or
financial. It can also turn out that they are now
considering it most specially in these days that it is
much more talked about.
Student’s mental health may worsen over the
years. There are cases of mental illness that ended up
by suicide. In the United States, suicide is the second
leading cause of death among adolescents that range
from 15 to 24 years old. With the increasing rate of
Page !2 of !5
250% for females and 300% for males. This behaviour
can be demonstrated in various ways such as
performing a psychotic process. Suicidal behaviour
can also be evident for adolescent with conduct
disorder which experiences persistent stress and comes
to the point where they feel like they no longer have a
life. Primarily, young people who suffer from mental
illness such as depression, isolation and angry-
impulsive are at high risk for suicide attempts. Data
shows that over 50% of suicidal adolescents
experiences depression. The more they suffer from
depression, the higher the possibility to attempt suicide
(Meehan & Stetson, 1998). A solid relationship can
make a change not only for the school and teachers but
also for the home and parents, they are the most
important people who should step up and send help for
their children. A healthy support system in the family
as well as trained teachers and counsellors can
diminish increasing suicide attempts.
A person’s mental health escalates when they
reach to the point wherein they will enter the student
life. Schools should be a support system that would
guide along its scope towards being emancipated and
empowered. But what’s happening in these days is that
students’ come to the point that they overused their
selves in extending to numerous extracurricular
activities and school works (Perry, 2018). This what
the society should face, the reality that mental health is
not a joke and it should not be taken for granted. At
least for now, the only thing that should save it is the
awareness and mostly the early prevention which can
be an action to conquer it. Nevertheless, most students
still lack of support system that’s why teachers, school
counsellors and administrators should have a strong
relation towards the students to build a certain
connection which can help them to aid the
prioritization of mental health.
METHODOLOGY
The researcher chooses the descriptive way to
tackle the study deeply as a research design. This
particular design looks into the background or status of
a present variable or phenomenon. This is also
appropriate and fit for the research since it focuses
more on social sciences and psychology as a main
subject.
Throughout this research, 100 students from 5
specific schools are the respondents for the study. The
respondents are composed of 20 people per school:
Treston International College, University of Makati,
Makati High School, Global City Innovative College
and Jose Rizal University.
This study conducts a snowball sampling
technique to acquire respondents for this research. It is
 Page !3 of !5

a convenient way for the researcher since there are 6

schools participating. It can be easily executed by Figure 2 shows the percentage of the students
referral from a student of each schools. from each schools who cooperated in the study where
For them to be able to answer it conveniently in they all got the same number with 20% each
and hassle-free, the researcher chooses an online
survey questionnaire through google forms as an
instrument. Questions are in an open ended form for
them to be able to help and contribute to the study.
1) The researcher created an online survey
questionnaire via google forms.
2) Then, the researcher sent a link of the form to
a student of each schools.
3) The researcher asked that student if he/she can
refer students that can participate to the study.
Figure 3 Emotional Distress

Figure 3 shows the percentage of the

RESULTS
This chapter will present the data that was
garnered from the respondents of the 5 schools that
were used in this research which are the Treston
International College, Jose Rizal University,
University of Makati, Makati High School and Global
City Innovative College. The data is presented through
graphical representation form
adolescents who are experiencing exhaustion, anxiety
and other emotional distress wherein 96% answered
that they are experiencing it while 3% answered
sometimes and the remaining 1% answered that they
don’t experience it at all

Figure 1 Age Figure 4 Cause of Emotional Distress

Figure 1 shows the percentage of the age
group who answered the survey whereas most of the
respondents are in the range of 16 to 18 years old
where it shows the same number of the interviewees
who are 17 and 18 with 37% while the 26% is
composed of the respondents who are 16 years old.
Figure 4 shows the cause of emotional distress
where in academics got the highest with 74% while
family and financial problem got 16% and 10%
respectively.

Figure 5 Kinds of Distress

Figure 5 shows the different kinds of distress

that the respondents’ are experiencing which can be
Figure 2 Schools seen that Depression got the highest with 53 total
number of answers while low self esteem and low

confidence got 45 and 40, respectively. The 38
answered they are experiencing repetitive of thoughts
while 34 answered they are having eating disorders. 30
answered that they are having unrealistic, perfectionist
expectations and some answered that they are
worrying about the future events with a total number
of 29 while the remaining two are fears and anger with
22 and 23, in order.
Figure 6 Mental Health Professionals
Figure 6 shows the the Mental Health
Professionals that they to open up with if ever they had
a chance. The highest got 88% which is the
Psychologist while the second got 35% which is the
Psychiatrist and the Guidance Counsellor got 28%
Figure 7 Consideration of getting professional help
Figure 7 shows if the adolescents still
consider to consult from a mental health professional
wherein most of the said no with 80% while 20% said
yes.
Figure 8 Factors that hinder from getting professional
help
Page !4 of !5
Figure 8 shows the different factors that
hinder them from having a consultation from a
professional. Social Stigma got 81% while the second
is the lack of mental health professionals with 64% and
the remaining got 52% each, the financial capacity and
lack of mental health education and awareness
Figure 9 Level of Importance of Mental Health
Practitioners
Figure 9 shows the level of importance of the
Mental Health Practitioners wherein Psychologist is
hailed as the fairly important or level four with a total
number of 29 answers while the Psychiatrist got 43
number of answers which is distinguished as important
while the remaining three: Guidance Counsellor,
Behavioural Psychologist and Clinical Psychologist
got level 2 as the highest which is the slightly
important with a a total number of answers 43, 37 and
48, respectively.
DISCUSSIONS
Summary
The purpose of this study is to know the level
of importance of mental health consultations among
the adolescents. That’s why this research was
conducted from the setting wherein most of it are
composed of adolescents. From that, the researcher
was able to know if they still consider consultation and
the different factors that hinder them from getting
professional help.
Figure 1 tackles the age of the respondents
which states that they are in the same age group from
16 years old to 18 years old, in short they are
considered as the people in the adolescent stage. Both
17 and 18 got the same number of answers with 37%
each because it can be connected to their school since
it is now in a university and college format.
Meanwhile, the remaining 26% percent was answered
by the 16 year old students.
The second figure presents the school where
the respondents came from. All of them had the same
number of respondents with 20% each of the 5 schools
that participated in this research.
Most of the respondents answered that they are
experiencing different emotional distress such as

exhaustion and anxiety with a total number of 96%. In
connection with that are the causes of what they are
experiencing. Academics got the highest because it can
be with the reason that there are changes with the
curriculum of the country with 74%, the percentages
can be both seen in figures 3 and 4.
It can be seen in figure 5 that they specified
that kinds of distress that they are experiencing more
particularly depression. Among the other options
depression got the highest number of response with 53.
Which you can conclude that almost half of them are
having thoughts and feelings about it.
Due to the fact that Psychologist is the well
known mental health professional among the
respondents, it is their top choice id ever they were
given a chance to consult to a professional with over
88% because it is mostly discussed in school and even
on the television followed by the Psychiatrist with
35%. With that they also believe that Psychologist is
important when it comes to mental health matter.
Given an option to measure each practitioner from 1
from being the lowest and 5 being the highest, it got
the highest rating in level 4 which means that it is
fairly important which can be reflected that it is their
best bet if given a chance.
This research depicted that most of the
respondents doesn’t want to have a professional help
with 80% answers which can be seen in figure 6.
In relation to figure 6, the different factors that
hinder them from getting help tops the social stigma
with 81% because of the reason that the Philippines is
not yet open when it comes to that issue.
Conclusion
The research aims to know the level of
importance of the adolescents towards mental health
consultations and it can be wrapped up that they don’t
consider it at all in these days. It can also be seen that
they are struggling especially in academics or
schoolworks which triggers them from experiencing
emotional distress. There’s also a shortage of
understanding since they are not knowledgeable
enough with it which can be indicated that there’s a
deficit education to the topic. Social Stigma is also the
main reason why they are afraid to ask for help since
the Philippines is not yet open enough to Mental
Health. In their own perspective, Psychologist is the
most important mental health practitioner.
Recommendation
The research should widen the scope and
limitations, such as not only settling with 5 schools but
in a more diversed setting.
Page !5 of !5
The researcher should expand the respondents
by considering other age group to further elaborate the
idea.
The research should also consider finding
other related studies that can add more depth and
details to the study.
References:
Borja, K. (2017, October 05). Fighting the Stigma of Mental
Illness in the Philippines. Retrieved from http://
www.modernfilipina.ph/health/health-issues/mental-
illness-stigma-philippines
College Fact Sheet [PDF]. (2015, December). National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Firmante, M. M. (2017). Psychological Help-seeking
Intentions among Filipino College Students Across Three
Common Problem Areas: A Replication Study [PDF].
Semantic Scholar.
Fundamental Facts About Mental Health 2016 [PDF].
(2016). United Kingdom: Mental Health Foundation.
Gulliver, A., Griffiths, K. M., & Christensen, H. (2010,
December 30). Perceived barriers and facilitators to
mental health help-seeking in young people: A
systematic review. Retrieved from https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3022639/
Meehan, A. M., & Stetson, E. A. (Eds.). (1997). Adolescent
Psychology 97/98. Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin
Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark.
Perry, P. (2018, November 01). Millennials are at higher risk
for mental health issues. This may be why. Retrieved
from https://bigthink.com/philip-perry/millennials-are-
at-higher-risk-for-mental-health-issues-this-may-be-why
Promoting Student Mental Health. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/
student-mental-health-resources/
Scott, S., & Quinn, S. (2014, June 19). One in five young
people struggle with mental illness. Retrieved from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-18/young-people-
with-mental-illness-do-not-seek-help/5530748
Tugade, R. (2017, April 25). We need to talk about mental
illness in the Philippines. Retrieved from http://
cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/04/25/mental-
illness-stigma.html
Types of Mental Health Professionals. (2016, March 30).
Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/
types-mental-health-professionals