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Joined by over a hundred government workers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Apayao State College employees attended this year’s pilot episode of the Skills Enhancement and Employee Development (SEED) Project Series” of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED-CAR) UniFAST Unit via Zoom on February 29.
Dr. Demetrio P. Anduyan, Jr., Director IV, gave his opening remarks and underscored the importance of having a sound mind and body to efficiently and effectively function in the workplace. The rationale of the program and Gender and Development (GAD) provided insights that were presented by Ms. Menzie O. Kuengan, Supervising Education Program Specialist, while Dr. Bernadette C. Pal-ec, Education Supervisor II/ UniFAST Focal person gave the comprehensive introduction to the resource speaker.
Seeding its first episode titled, “Self-Improvement and Personal Development Through Deep Diving Mental Health Concerns,” the discussion anchored mental and emotional health concerns while finding ways to cope.
Dr. Ricky B. Ducas, Jr., Health Services Office -Mental Health Coordinator and the Founder of Anxiety & Depression Support Group based in Baguio City served as the resource person.
“Sometimes in achieving self-improvement and personal development, learning to appreciate and love yourself is a process”, Dr. Ducas, who himself is a registered nurse, stated in the first part of the lecture.
Furthermore, he showed a “biopsychosocial framework of mental health and mental illness,” which challenged him as a health officer. It illustrates indicators such as mental health, mental ill-health, mental illness, and mental disability. Pouring his hopes into reality, he tried something to prove that he could reverse mental disability back to mental health. “I tried my best to collaborate with team effort because mental health is a community effort… you need someone also,” he added.
Aside from sharing on improving personal development, fostering self-awareness and self-love were addressed. He then encouraged everyone to take a daily dose (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphin) of sunshine.
Tackling health matters, the resource speaker also summarized using an acronym for mental health.
Years ago, he was featured in Philippine television lifestyle and magazine shows, and recently in one of the episodes of Rated Korina, inspiring and conveying that there is always hope for those who are struggling with mental health.
“Hopefully, we will have more of this for us to cope with what we have been encountering especially to the negative side, convert it to the positive side,” Dr. Ma. Geraldine F. Casipit, Chief Education Program Specialist, in her closing remarks as she mentioned on managing work-related stress.
