Zarina Luz R.

Bartolay

BSA 1-6

A Reflection Paper on

“You and Me Against the World: Breaking Down Barriers to Mental Health Care”

I am strong. I am fine. I am okay. All these years, I have always told myself these words in
front of a mirror with a bright smiling face. I thought that everything’s fine and that I am strong. Yet,
little did I know that these small actions I have been doing in my entire life shows that there is
something else. Something that I do not know and still have not figured out. However, this one event
made me realize all of these. I never knew that this one hour and thirty minutes talk would shed a
new light in the dark piece of my knowledge.

As a social media user, Facebook and Twitter have been part of my sources of information
about the news, trends and issues happening worldwide. Recently, while scrolling down the page, I
saw several news about people committing suicide due to… depression. We tend to look at their
smiles as if they were one of the happiest people on Earth yet behind that smiling mask is the face
of a man suffering from extreme loneliness and sadness. That is why I became fully aware about
mental health issues and this talk entitled “You and Me Against the World: Breaking Down
Barriers to Mental Health Care” helped me have a deeper understanding about Mental Health.

Learning how to become a light to someone else is the first thing I learned as the speaker
began her talk. That in order for it to be effective, I need to have empathy, be compassionate and
show kindness to all the people that I meet. Knowing that I am kind of sensitive and aware with the
feelings of others, I then saw the progress of successfully taking one-step of the ladder and gave me
chance to be a help to others. They may not be those type of persons who would tell you suddenly
of their problems but at least try to listen to their stories. Let us look deeper into the roots of every
person and once we get to know them better and gain their trust, we can now understand their
problems as well as lessen the burdens they have been carrying on their shoulders. Moreover, we
could learn from each other. Well-known books, novels, and short stories are not the only source of
Life Lessons. Rather, it is everywhere. We listen and we learn. The stories of the people plus their
voices signify something beyond what is expected. On the other hand, the question “KAYO BA AY
MAY SARADONG UTAK O LUMALAGONG UTAK?” showed the great importance of HUMILITY.
Being a humble person does not only refer to not being arrogant (saradong utak) or not bragging
about one’s success and accomplishments but also the willingness to learn (lumalagong utak) for
the sake of oneself and others. If one wants to have a growing mindset or lumalagong utak, it is
important to have humility.

Aside from these ideas, I also discovered that there were certain indicators on how I can break
these barriers of mental health disorders. First, we have to be open to challenges and obstacles. In
life, there will always be these challenges. Big or small. Short-term or long-term. Challenges are
challenges. Nothing more, nothing less. However, once we face these, little by little, we will feel the
sense of accomplishments. We learned, learning, and will always learn from these experiences. Just
do not give up and have courage to face all of these. Second are the product of efforts. I always
believe that no efforts wasted if done sincerely and we know the virtue of patience. Third is that we
must be open to criticisms. The speaker said that this is an indicator if we want to learn and improve
ourselves. In my opinion, this is true. They tell us about our negative actions and attitude since they
care about us. They want us to learn, to improve our well-being and to become an even better person.
Some people may degrade us but this would allow us to look on what part of ourselves needs
improvement. But remember, criticisms are different from insults. Insults are not tolerated but
criticisms must be accepted. Lastly, we must be open to the success of others. If being an envious
person would lead us to do negative actions, there will be no improvement; there will be no progress.
If someone becomes successful, let us learn to congratulate him or her. Use them as inspiration in
achieving your dream and aspirations in life.

Making God as the center of your life, having the right physical environment, adventure,
personality development, family and happiness helps in preventing mental health disorder. On the
contrary, I also learned that in order to have a healthy physical well-being, I have to mold my self-
image, have self-actualization, reach my fullest potential, achieve resilience through humility and
courage, be hardworking, and be a blessing to others. In fact, we can be a blessing to others through
our small actions. Those persons that we helped might already been considering us a blessing to
their life without us knowing. But how can we do so? This could be through the OFNR, stands for
Observation, Feelings, Needs, and Requests. If we notice that there is something that is bothering
one of our close friends and has been affecting his or her actions lately, we must approach and tell
them about it while showing how we sincerely cares about them. This way, we could help them and
be a blessing to them.

Lastly, I felt that there is something more in life. Life lessons are not just only from experiences
but also the words being shared to us by other people. “Right cannot be wrong and the wrong cannot
be right”, “mag-iwan ka ng legacy sa buhay mo”, “our mouth can make or break the life of others”,
and most importantly, “the best things in life are free!” hit me with greater impact. There is so much
things that can be done in this life and so many things to learn from.

This reflection paper may have its ending, but the learnings will just be the beginning. All
these learnings would serve as foundation of myself in becoming a better person. A person with a
healthy psychological well-being. Starting this day onwards, I would ask myself in front of the mirror.
What makes me beautiful? What am I good at? “What are the good deeds I’ve done?” and lastly tell
myself, “You did well today!”