Dr. Yatco-Bautista, delivering her lecture.
Behavioral Medicine chief of Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and child, adolescent and adult psychologist of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Assoc. Prof. Jocelyn Nieva Yatco-Bautista, MD, FPPA, FPSCAP said that mental health programs in schools not only contribute to the betterment of mental health of students, but also promote destigmatization of students who are depressed, or with suicidal tendencies.
A fellow of the Philippine Psychiatric Association, Inc., and the Philippine Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Yatco-Bautista urged the audience to check the common symptoms of depression among students such as school failure, loneliness, sadness, and low energy, in a seminar organized by the College of Education (COE) and the Career and Counseling Center (CCC) entitled “Promoting Mental Health in Schools: Preventing Depression and Suicide” on April 28, 2017 at the Medicine Auditorium.
“Sometimes, depression is conveyed better in their play or their drawings or paintings than in their conversation,” Yatco-Bautista added. Yatco-Bautista said that suicide is almost always the result of a mental illness usually depression. “In assessing students, it is important to bear in mind that their parents are not always aware the depression in their children. The children tend to be better sources of information than their parents. The more serious report should be given the greater weight.”
