BATTLE IN THE BRAIN: A SOCIAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR MENTAL

HEALTH ISSUES

An Advocacy Proposal

By

Jhamel Drilon

John Jomer Marfil

February 2021
 Table of Contents

Page

Background 1

Objectives 3

Methodology 5

Budget Proposal 7

Target Beneficiary 8

Conclusion 9

References 10
 Background

Mental illness is an illness of the brain that cause disturbances in thinking,

behavior, energy or emotion which makes it difficult to cope with the ordinary
demands of life. According to Jean Holthaus, LISW, LMSW 2020, it
approximately affects 19% of the adult population, 46% of teenagers and 13%
of children each year. Anyone can be affected by mental illness regardless of
age and gender. He may be a relative, person living next door, a coworker or
someone sitting in the same church pew. However, only half of those whom
affected receive proper treatment, often because of the stigma attached to
mental health. Untreated mental illness may lead to high medical expenses,
poor performance at school and work, few employment opportunities and an
elevated risk of suicide.

2020 is a year of struggle and transition as the Coronavirus disease

(COVID 19) stretched the globe. Face-to-face contacts have been minimal and
house isolation was considered to be part of the new normal. As a result,
educational institutions have adopted a comparatively modern learning form,
which is the use of modules or the online learning method. Although teachers
do their best to build an interactive and immersive learning experience, for
many students, the lack of social interaction makes remote learning so difficult
to cope with. Suicide reports have escalated and are correlated to the strain
imposed by remote learning. These situations are the product of a lack of
mental guidance, complicated instructional resources, educational pressure
and a sense of isolation or loneliness.

In the early stage of online learning many have experienced these signs
which lead to mental health problems:

 Excessive paranoia, worry, or anxiety.

  Long-lasting sadness or irritability.
 Extreme changes in moods.
 Social withdrawal.
 Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping pattern.

Mental health problems can lead to depression, anxiety or worst, suicide.

Therefore, we came up with the advocacy entitled “Battle in the Brain: A social
awareness campaign for mental health issues”. The said advocacy focuses on
promoting mental health awareness and be able to proliferate the scientific
truth regarding mental health in order to break the stigma regarding someone’s
state of mind especially during this time as we face a global challenge. This
advocacy intends to serve as a reminder to everyone to be conscious and
sensitive to the people they deal with since we all have battles we fight silently.
We must bear in mind that every individual deserves to be cared of, loved,
understood, and healed especially those dealing with mental health problems.
 Objectives

Our advocacy centers on mental health awareness that is timely and

applicable to our present situation. The objectives of this project are as follows:

 To promote and disseminate knowledge of mental health, particularly to

online and modular learners. They will be equipped with the information
they can utilize when there are mental health issues and they will be
aware of what mental disorder is.
 To develop ways to deal with mental illness, and take profound and
lasting action on it. We will not settle in just giving information but we are
also going to work with forms and strategies to protect and help those in
need.
 To distribute promotional items such as brochures, pamphlets, posters
and videos on mental health awareness. This will help to promote our
advocacy, in particular with the help of technology, which will help us to
make a substantial contribution to the dissemination of information.
 To enhance and protect the mental health of individuals, families,
groups and communities on a daily basis by providing daily information
and inspirational videos online suitable for all ages. Educational and
innovative posters and videos will be made available to all target
beneficiaries
 To maintain peace of mind and moral guidance for our beneficiaries. We
will invite a licensed psychiatrist to speak at one of our upcoming
webinar sessions to provide us with informational and credible facts
about our advocacy.
 To assist the reintegration of people with mental illness into their
communities in order to improve their overall quality of life. Despite the
dilemma that we face today, with the aid of our social media sites, we
could always be linked to one another.
 Despite the hindrances posed by the Corona Virus disease, the following
objectives can be achieved by the information and evidence we have collected
to establish feasible ways of executing this project and coping with individuals
who have mental health issues because we are certain that this project is
SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based).
 Methodology

In this age of modernity, there are various social media platforms where
information can hit a vast number of individuals. As of January 2020, the
number of internet users in the Philippines grew to 73 million people,
accounting for more than half of the total population. The
digital population mostly belongs to the age group of 16 years old and above.
Going digital is inevitable and a lot - if not all services are now available online
Sanchez, 2020.

Provided that we are facing a pandemic, it might not be possible to

conduct face-to-face awareness programs to deliver our advocacy thus, we
will take advantage and utilize the most influential and prevalent platform
known as social media. (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Tiktok). The following are
the ways we have thought about on how to promote mental health awareness
and address the issue faced by certain individuals.

 Creating a dedicated page/channel on social media with the aid of

individuals who have a vast awareness about our advocacy, made up of
psychologists, guidance counselors and mental health providers.
 This page/channel will act as an online referral forum for people who
have concerns about their mental health status.
 Articles will be published about how one should be able to realize that
he is at the point of mental illness. Advices will be provided on how to
cope with his condition.
 Provide mental health assessment to people who have seen symptoms
of mental health disorder to determine the specific psychological traits,
abilities, and problems. This can be achieved with the aid of
psychologists who are better adapted to this problem.
 A Facebook live will be hosted once a week to serve as a venue for
discourse on mental health issues, where there will be an open forum
 after the discussion to cater to people who have concerns and
clarifications on the topic.
 Webinars will be hosted to advise certain groups of individuals, such as
teachers and parents, on how to resolve mental health problems and
better support children who are in need of assistance.
 Conduct online interactions such as video games for people who
struggle with mental illness. According to Professor Emily Holmes,
Professor of Clinical Neuroscience and APA Distinguished Early Career
Awardee, playing puzzle games like Tetris has the potential to ease
symptoms of anxiety and depression. This also allows those who suffer
post-traumatic stress disorder to alleviate flashbacks.
 Budget Proposal

Face-to-face interactions, including outreach services, have been minimal

with the CoVid-19 pandemic. While our current situation differs from that of the
first few months of quarantine, we will not risk the health and welfare of all
those involved in conducting outdoor activities. Since outreach projects will not
be feasible at this time, we believe that this advocacy would be very
budget-friendly for we will utilize the social media channels to carry the
requisite services provided by our proposal.

We are proposing a total budget of ₱13,000 to fund the professional

guidance required for this advocacy to take place, as working with mental
health is a serious issue, particularly because this involves comprehensive
knowledge from experts in this area. The figure below shows the breakdown of
expenditure for the planned project.

Breakdown of Budget (₱)

3,000
5,000
Mental Health Consultants
5,000 Honorarium
Digital Assistance

Mental health consultants cover a significant portion of this advocacy

because they have further knowledge and experience in working with multiple
mental health issues. Each session with a psychiatrist in Iloilo City varies from
₱1,000 to ₱5,000. We, as advocates, are going to have a consultation to get
ourselves check and also address the topic of our campaign and that we
needed their support. Other than that, we will invite at least one 1 psychiatrist
to give a talk during the webinar proposed by this advocacy. The honorarium
for the speaker also varies from ₱1,000 to ₱5,000.

Digital assistance is also necessary to ensure that we provide quality

visual aids needed for the process and integration of this advocacy across
social media channels. The fees for these specialists may range from ₱1,000
to ₱3,000 based on the amount of work they have completed and the time they
have lent to the whole editing process.

Target Beneficiary

As we all know, several cases have been reported of students suffering

from psychiatric illness following the onset of the pandemic. Due to the
significant growth in numbers, the key beneficiaries of this advocacy are online
and modular learners who suffer from mental illness not just because of the
strain and stress imposed by this emerging online learning system, but also
because of the change in the learning environment caused by this Corona
Virus outbreak, which had lead us all to follow strict health protocols including
home quarantine then this advocacy is beneficial to our current situation and it
may also be very useful to the people especially those experiencing mental
health issues in the coming years
 Conclusion

The implementation of this advocacy can alleviate the suffering of the

people living in fear of the stigma brought by mental illness. The development
of this advocacy can facilitate the implementation of ways to cope with the
agony brought by mental health issues. As a result the community is likely to
benefit in many ways. The needs of persons with mental illnesses will be better
understood and their rights will be better protected. They will receive services
of improved quality and will participate actively in the planning, development,
monitoring and evaluation of the services. Families will be supported in their
role as carers and the population at large will have a better understanding of
mental health and disorders. Longer-term benefits include the wider promotion
of mental health and the development of protective factors for mental health.
 References

Holthaus, J. 2020, Sep 10. The Importance of Mental Health Awareness.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services Grand Rapids, MI.
https://www.pinerest.org/mental-health-awareness-blog/

Shaver, M. 2017, May 30. The Therapeutic Benefits of Tetris. Tetris.

https://tetris.com/article/4/the-therapeutic-benefits-of-tetris

Sanchez, M.J. 2020, Sep 3. Philippines: Number of Internet Users

2015-2020. Statista.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/221179/internet-users-philippines/