By: Jennifer de Belen and Sheena Peña

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people’s mental and emotional wellness as media updates abound every day and their actions are constrained by the situation. Our front liners are not spared; in fact, they are more affected psychologically. They are put in risk to save the lives of others, yet they are discriminated against and treated undesirably by some people.  

How did humanitarian NGOs, private institutions, and community groups collaborate to provide mental health and wellbeing support to frontliners?

The Wellbeing Cluster PH is an off-shoot network of humanitarian response of the Central Visayas Network of NGOs (CENVISNET) with other organizations to cater to the mental health and wellbeing of the humanitarian responders. The Cluster has been providing remote response to frontliners to help them deal with and cope with the risks of serving others at this time.

One of the affiliated organizations in the Wellbeing Cluster is the Gestalt Wellness Institute-Southeast Asia. Kirk Patrick Castro, who is Chief Executive Director of the said institute, narrated that during the last six months of the pandemic, the Cluster launched the Virtual Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (VMHPSS).

The VMHPSS provides information about COVID-19; teaches positive coping methods; expands access to safe and supportive education about mental health and social support; facilitate psycho education to the community in quarantined areas on managing stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues; and provides accessible online telecommunication platform for people.

Other interventions include reaching out to government health offices and facilities (ex. Lapulapu City DRRMO, Talisay City), conducting online sessions and chat support on Facebook, and facilitating relational debriefing sessions for frontliners and field workers.

Beneficiaries were appreciative in general. Most of them reported feeling better because they were able to release pent up emotions. They felt there was someone listening and empathizing. These contributed to their sense of existence.

There is a link between mental health readiness and disaster preparedness, thus, Mr. Castro emphasizes that mental health education be part of our basic education. If families understand depression, they will be more sensitive of people’s needs and feelings. Young people are susceptible to depression; they sometimes resort to self-harm. With empathy, communities can better prepare and respond.

People are inherently resilient. Despite challenges, people still thrive because of the anti-fragility of the human soul. Mr. Castro explains, “Even if the human soul falls, it does not shatter.”  He reminded front liners to also take care of themselves emotionally and mentally. The first process towards becoming relationally resilient is to open up to others.  

This article comes from the e-Talk session organized by CENVISNET on September 21, 2020 during the CODE-NGO Social Development Week 2020 with the theme, “Covid-19 Road to Recovery: Solutions from the Communities”. Watch the full video of the session here.