“KARAMAY” sa WEST
By John Spencer B. Tañalas
West Visayas State University-College of Medicine (WVSU-COM), headed by the Medicine Student Council (MSC), celebrated the Mental Health Week by giving a “karamay” to each medical student.
Partnering with the Order of Asclepius (OA) and Asian Medical Students Association (AMSA), WVSU chapter, a mental health-related workshop with the theme “Karamay,” was held on September 25, 2019 at the Roxas Hall. It featured different activities, each having its own emphasis on improving the mental health of the medical students, knowing they can also fall victim to mental illness.
One of the activities, titled “Psychological First Aid Workshop,” talked on managing people’s needs after a disaster and those experiencing psychological trauma. A team from the Department of Health shared intervention strategies such as regular rest breaks, opportunities to ventilate feelings, and follow-up personal survey and care, to mention a few. RA 11036 also known as the “Mental Health Act” was briefly discussed, together with its implementing rules and regulations.
A presentation about the “Well-being Framework” revolved around Jenny and her spirit of resilience despite unfortunate events in her life, as well as her victory over depression. And for her to be whole again, it was essential for her to go through biological, material, mental, emotional, social, cultural, and spiritual experiences. Her story is relatable, as it can be ours as well.
A break-out session involved groups working on a body map and sharing their outputs. Facilitated by a psychiatrist from Western Visayas Medical Center, this activity enabled the medical students to introspect and gain wisdom from their groupmates.
Another program spearheaded by the Order of Asclepius was on coping with stress. The speaker, a member of OA, stressed that the best way to manage everyday stress is finding a balance between emotion-based and problem-based approaches. Emotion-based approach gives attention to feelings, while problem-based one uses logic. An add-on activity was learning the proper execution of belly-breathing exercise for relaxation.
Dr. Malata, on the other hand, shared a holistic approach to managing stress—
the spiritual aspect. He stressed that having a personal relationship with God will keep us steady and stress-free despite the storms of life because we are anchored in Him. Dr. Malata also shared his daily ritual that gives him strength to face the day: reading God’s Word.
For entertainment and personal reflection, AMSA-WVSU showed a film entitled Collateral Beauty. The film imparted valuable lessons on how to face life’s realities to enable us to live our life to the fullest.
The different events reminded us, medical students, to take good care not only of other people’s mental health, but ours as well.
The mind can be trained and strengthened to improve mental toughness. Having a mindset to conquer stress no matter what will great impact the way we cope with it.
Entering medical school is difficult, and yes, stressful! Staying in medical school is more difficult, and again, more stressful. But there is no need to worry! Finishing medical school will be easier, lighter, and just a wee bit stressful when you have a ”karamay” with you all the way.