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Mental illness is the third most common form of disability in the land according to a data of the National Statistics Office. Philstar/File photo | By Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo via Philstar
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Manila, Philippines - Are you a psychopath or a "Dutertard"? As it turns out, President Rodrigo Duterte is not alone in the arena of mind games.
According to the local Department of Health, from obsessive-compulsive behavior like taking too much selfies, to depression caused by natural calamities, all Filipinos could be facing different levels of mental issues.
Depression, said the World Health Organization (WHO), “will be the most common single cause of disability in both developed and developing countries by 2020.”
In the Philippines, the 2000 survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that mental illness has a prevalence rate of 88 is to 100,000, making it the third most common form of disability in the land. NSO’s 2005 data, the latest available, also showed that young adults aged 20 to 24 had the highest suicide rate.
For physician Stan Chua of Centuria Medical Hospital in Makati City, the president might not be a "psychopath," as actress Agot Isidro described Duterte in a recent controversial social media post. The president, according to Chua, is simply old, and the elderly, based on the doctor’s experience with his patients, are “hard to treat because they’re usually stubborn.”
As the saying goes, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.”
The doctor, however, was quick to dismiss that when it comes to compliance, may it be medical or political, personality matters more than age. He gave as example one of his patients, who he finds to be exceptionally obedient of his prescriptions even if the patient is already in her 80’s.
In time for WHO’s observance of World Mental Health Day last October 10, Chua gave some pieces of advice on how to be brain fit every day without seeing a psychiatrist.
1. Take one cup of a variety of vegetables every meal.
What the president needs, according to Chua, is a balanced diet. He heard Duterte loves legumes, which may reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dimentia.
Legumes are also rich in folate, which is crucial for mental and emotional health. These bean sprouts, however, are also abundant in fatty acids like Omega-3 and Omega-6, which might be good for the brain, but bad if taken in excess as these could serve as blood thinners and as such, could cause a stroke.
The key then, said the doctor, is to eat a cup of a variety of vegetables every meal, and not just legumes.
2. Do not lose weight fast.
The brain, according to the doctor, is 90 percent fat, so “you can’t lose fat too fast.” He recalled that there were obese patients that got depressed when they lost weight because they lost fat in their brains, but became happy again when they regained some pounds.
Thus, instead of falling for diet plans that promise overnight solutions, Chua advised to start a gradual process of losing weight by walking at least 30 minutes a day.
“You can’t just make a 400-pound person jump into the threadmill. Weight loss doesn’t happen that way,” he pointed out. “So, how do you encourage somebody who has not exercised all his life to exercise. You start by asking him to walk for at least 30 minutes a day. Walking, anyway, is a basic human function we learned since we were young.”
3. Not all fats are bad.
By weight, the brain is mostly water, but by mass, it is made up of mostly fat. Hence, people who are low in fat have less coping mechanisms against stress and anxiety.
Chua then suggested to avoid bad fats such as trans fat, which is present in overcooked oils. Even olive oil, he took note, could be trans fat if used for frying with a temperature of 120 degree-Celsius and up. Instead, he recommended using a sundry of cooking oils, such as avocado oil, flaxseed and prim rose, for cooking. Other sources of good fats include salmon, egg yolk, nuts, lecithin and soy.
Chua said 50 percent of his diet is fat, generally derived from his morning recipe: brewed black coffee mixed with two tablespoons of unsalted butter and six to eight tablespoons of virgin coconut oil. And the taste? The doctor said: “It’s good! You should try it!”
Depression, said the World Health Organization (WHO), “will be the most common single cause of disability in both developed and developing countries by 2020.”
In the Philippines, the 2000 survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that mental illness has a prevalence rate of 88 is to 100,000, making it the third most common form of disability in the land. NSO’s 2005 data, the latest available, also showed that young adults aged 20 to 24 had the highest suicide rate.
For physician Stan Chua of Centuria Medical Hospital in Makati City, the president might not be a "psychopath," as actress Agot Isidro described Duterte in a recent controversial social media post. The president, according to Chua, is simply old, and the elderly, based on the doctor’s experience with his patients, are “hard to treat because they’re usually stubborn.”
As the saying goes, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.”
The doctor, however, was quick to dismiss that when it comes to compliance, may it be medical or political, personality matters more than age. He gave as example one of his patients, who he finds to be exceptionally obedient of his prescriptions even if the patient is already in her 80’s.
In time for WHO’s observance of World Mental Health Day last October 10, Chua gave some pieces of advice on how to be brain fit every day without seeing a psychiatrist.
1. Take one cup of a variety of vegetables every meal.
What the president needs, according to Chua, is a balanced diet. He heard Duterte loves legumes, which may reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dimentia.
Legumes are also rich in folate, which is crucial for mental and emotional health. These bean sprouts, however, are also abundant in fatty acids like Omega-3 and Omega-6, which might be good for the brain, but bad if taken in excess as these could serve as blood thinners and as such, could cause a stroke.
The key then, said the doctor, is to eat a cup of a variety of vegetables every meal, and not just legumes.
Physician Stan Chua gives a lecture at Centuria Medical Hospital in Makati City. Philstar/Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo
2. Do not lose weight fast.
The brain, according to the doctor, is 90 percent fat, so “you can’t lose fat too fast.” He recalled that there were obese patients that got depressed when they lost weight because they lost fat in their brains, but became happy again when they regained some pounds.
Thus, instead of falling for diet plans that promise overnight solutions, Chua advised to start a gradual process of losing weight by walking at least 30 minutes a day.
“You can’t just make a 400-pound person jump into the threadmill. Weight loss doesn’t happen that way,” he pointed out. “So, how do you encourage somebody who has not exercised all his life to exercise. You start by asking him to walk for at least 30 minutes a day. Walking, anyway, is a basic human function we learned since we were young.”
3. Not all fats are bad.
By weight, the brain is mostly water, but by mass, it is made up of mostly fat. Hence, people who are low in fat have less coping mechanisms against stress and anxiety.
Chua then suggested to avoid bad fats such as trans fat, which is present in overcooked oils. Even olive oil, he took note, could be trans fat if used for frying with a temperature of 120 degree-Celsius and up. Instead, he recommended using a sundry of cooking oils, such as avocado oil, flaxseed and prim rose, for cooking. Other sources of good fats include salmon, egg yolk, nuts, lecithin and soy.
Chua said 50 percent of his diet is fat, generally derived from his morning recipe: brewed black coffee mixed with two tablespoons of unsalted butter and six to eight tablespoons of virgin coconut oil. And the taste? The doctor said: “It’s good! You should try it!”
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