by Glaiza Salanio

On Monday, October 7, the Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS) Sandigan Mapulon held a mental health first aid seminar entitled “Kapit,” at the second-floor Formation Learning Center, aiming to equip students with the knowledge and skills to support the mental well-being of themselves and other people.

The seminar introduced the concept of mental health first aid, providing students with a deeper understanding of mental health and practical skills for coping with personal challenges and supporting others in need.

“We noticed that some people don’t really know how to react when it comes to mental health emergencies. We wanted to equip the students of the ASHS to be able to respond to mental health concerns,” PJ Tiambeng, head of Sandigan Mapulon, said.

“Not everyone has access to resources, can afford these or have it in them to go to these resources. So we hoped that by requiring student-leaders to come — at least, each classroom or each org has someone who can respond and look out for their members,” she added.

Mental health action plan

The guest speaker, Ms. Justine Danielle Reyes, a licensed psychometrician, presented the ALGEE mental health action plan in her talk, standing for “Assess for risk of suicide or harm and assist; Listen non-judgmentally; Give support and information; Encourage appropriate professional help; and Encourage self-help and other support strategies.”

Ms. Reyes also discussed emotion-focused coping, solution-focused coping, grounding techniques, and 4-7-8 breathing as effective strategies for managing mental health emergencies.

“I hope that as I’ve introduced to you guys the concept of mental health first aid, you get to learn that before you’re able to help others, before you’re able to be a good leader to others, you have to lead yourself first to the better version of yourself. You have to take care of yourself first because you can’t pour from an empty cup,” Ms. Reyes said.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about being in a collective, looking at where we are in our community, and asking ourselves, ‘How can I help make this place a better place?’” she ended.

Prior to the seminar, various booths were open to all students, including a sensory booth, a resource booth, a quiz booth, and a puzzle booth.

Building a better community

The event was attended by the Human Resource Officers of each OSCC, the wellness beadle of each class, and other ASHS students.

“I think one of the key things we learned that I remember the most was about not only how to confront people undergoing emotional distress or breakdown but also the ‘don’ts’ of confrontation. I think that really helped dispel some unintentionally harmful practices I would have done had I not known better, like, for example, telling someone “they’re so strong, that must have been tough” when they experience stress,” Hans de Asis, the Vice President of 12-Walpole, said.

“As for applying these in my own life, I feel like a lot of the skills they taught us can be applied during interactions with my fellow classmates, especially as a class officer whenever we would have to deal with heavy workloads as well as cooperating with our peers who also may be stressed. It’s important that we don’t worsen relationships, whether working or personal, further,” he added.