Growing up, I never heard the words "depression," "anxiety," or "mental health," only the occasional news reports of "suicides." I've always assumed there's something wrong with young people who prefer to end their lives—until I came into a similar circumstance this year while looking for signs of severe anxiety.

Here in the Philippines, mental health issues are infrequently discussed-even though they are a critical problem of oneself.

In the Philippines, many people hide their emotions so that society does not label them as "overreacting people." Let's change our thinking!

We must remove this stigma; We have to evolve. This change was necessary for me, and it could still be beneficial to us. We need to get the word out so that we will not keep this awareness just for ourselves. Although there is no silver bullet, there is a lot we can do to keep our family, friends, and future children from being stereotyped.