About two months ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and browsed through my Facebook notifications. A horrible news knocked the sleepyhead out of me: my favorite singer, Chester Bennington of the rock band Linkin Park, took his own life after years of battling depression. He hanged himself in California.
I was dumbfounded. I hurriedly took my camera; and in a true YouTuber fashion, pressed record and posted a vlog about my childhood hero’s death.
A couple of days after, I thought I also suffered from depression due to the shocking news. But upon delving into the topic of depression deeper, I realized that it’s more than just an emotional or psychological feeling. Surprisingly, it also is biological.
Brain chemical’s abnormality and imbalance on serotonin levels, result to this mental illness. And unlike the typical “sad feelings” that we can shrug off, depression negatively disrupts a person’s daily routine and often leads to suicide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are “more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression”, worldwide. That is a huge number and it is a major psychiatric problem.
On the WHO website, I have also discovered that despite the “solicitous-natured” Southeast Asians, our region has some considerable figures on suicides. 2017 data reveals that there are about 3.8 Filipinos who commit suicide per 100,000 people. One thing to note is that these figures may even be higher than listed because these are often underreported in our secretive cultures.
As I was writing this essay, it seemed coincidental that news about depression and suicide were featured in the dailies and on TV. Just yesterday, a popular teen star’s brother also took his life by shooting himself to the head. My colleagues’ close friend, a young 23-year old boy who’s been very active in a literary organization, ended his life two weeks ago by hanging. The culprit for these alarming deaths? Depression. And while there is a stigma attached with self-inflicted death in my culture, it is undeniable that mental health awareness is extremely necessary.
As a “relatively cheerful” netizen, I notice some factors why young people fall prey to depression: family problems, bruised esteems, and failed relationships. Add to that the lack of social interaction due to the rising popularity of social media. I always emphasize in my seminars to universities the importance of face-to-face interactions. Good thing that last year, the Philippine government launched Hopeline, a suicide prevention hotline (may be reached at (02) 804-4637). It was a welcome development.
It sure is a pity that everyone, regardless of nationality, may go through dark bouts with depression. Hence the need for us to shed more light on it for proper funding and adequate research. There sure is a need to combat depression with empathy, concern, and ultimately, professional help. It’s about time to erase the stigma and prevent the loss of untimely deaths, especially from those of our valued youths because every one’s life is precious.
The lyrics from Linkin Park’s hit song, “One More Light”, still reverberate on my head. Chester sounds very much alive as he sings: “Who cares if one more light goes out in the sky of a million stars?”. The answer is also in the song: “I do”.
References:
AltPress. "Chester Bennington’s cause of death has been confirmed." Alternative Press, https://www.altpress.com/news/entry/linkin_park_chester_bennington_cause_of_death_hanging. Accessed 8 October 2017.
"Depression." World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/. Accessed 10 October 2017.
"Suicide rates, age-standardized Data by country." World Health Organization, 4 April 2017, http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en. Accessed 11 October 2017.
Takumi, Rie. "Suicide rates, age-standardized Data by country." GMA News Online, 13 September 2016, https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/healthandwellness/581203/24-hour-suicide-prevention-hotline-launched-by-doh-who-ngf/story/. Accessed 12 October 2017.
I was dumbfounded. I hurriedly took my camera; and in a true YouTuber fashion, pressed record and posted a vlog about my childhood hero’s death.
A couple of days after, I thought I also suffered from depression due to the shocking news. But upon delving into the topic of depression deeper, I realized that it’s more than just an emotional or psychological feeling. Surprisingly, it also is biological.
Brain chemical’s abnormality and imbalance on serotonin levels, result to this mental illness. And unlike the typical “sad feelings” that we can shrug off, depression negatively disrupts a person’s daily routine and often leads to suicide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are “more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression”, worldwide. That is a huge number and it is a major psychiatric problem.
On the WHO website, I have also discovered that despite the “solicitous-natured” Southeast Asians, our region has some considerable figures on suicides. 2017 data reveals that there are about 3.8 Filipinos who commit suicide per 100,000 people. One thing to note is that these figures may even be higher than listed because these are often underreported in our secretive cultures.
As I was writing this essay, it seemed coincidental that news about depression and suicide were featured in the dailies and on TV. Just yesterday, a popular teen star’s brother also took his life by shooting himself to the head. My colleagues’ close friend, a young 23-year old boy who’s been very active in a literary organization, ended his life two weeks ago by hanging. The culprit for these alarming deaths? Depression. And while there is a stigma attached with self-inflicted death in my culture, it is undeniable that mental health awareness is extremely necessary.
As a “relatively cheerful” netizen, I notice some factors why young people fall prey to depression: family problems, bruised esteems, and failed relationships. Add to that the lack of social interaction due to the rising popularity of social media. I always emphasize in my seminars to universities the importance of face-to-face interactions. Good thing that last year, the Philippine government launched Hopeline, a suicide prevention hotline (may be reached at (02) 804-4637). It was a welcome development.
It sure is a pity that everyone, regardless of nationality, may go through dark bouts with depression. Hence the need for us to shed more light on it for proper funding and adequate research. There sure is a need to combat depression with empathy, concern, and ultimately, professional help. It’s about time to erase the stigma and prevent the loss of untimely deaths, especially from those of our valued youths because every one’s life is precious.
The lyrics from Linkin Park’s hit song, “One More Light”, still reverberate on my head. Chester sounds very much alive as he sings: “Who cares if one more light goes out in the sky of a million stars?”. The answer is also in the song: “I do”.
References:
AltPress. "Chester Bennington’s cause of death has been confirmed." Alternative Press, https://www.altpress.com/news/entry/linkin_park_chester_bennington_cause_of_death_hanging. Accessed 8 October 2017.
"Depression." World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/. Accessed 10 October 2017.
"Suicide rates, age-standardized Data by country." World Health Organization, 4 April 2017, http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en. Accessed 11 October 2017.
Takumi, Rie. "Suicide rates, age-standardized Data by country." GMA News Online, 13 September 2016, https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/healthandwellness/581203/24-hour-suicide-prevention-hotline-launched-by-doh-who-ngf/story/. Accessed 12 October 2017.
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