SENATOR Mark Villar on Wednesday expressed alarm on the drastic increase in mental health concerns in children saying that the country must make this a national concern.

“Ang mas nakakabahala sa dumaraming insidente ng suicide ng mga kabataan ay nangyayari na ito ngayon sa mismong loob ng paaralan na dapat ay safe spaces para sa mga kabataan bilang kanilang ikalawang tahanan,” Villar said.

According to several studies, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children, adolescents, and young adults globally.

In the Philippines, the Department of Education reported that 404 students died by suicide during the School Year 2021-2022, while 2,147 attempted to take their lives during the same period.

Villar called for solutions to immediately address the problem.

“It is high time that we ask why there is a growing number of suicides among our youth and enact solutions that will help our children deal with various mental health conditions. Coordination among schools and relevant agencies should be our top priority,” he said.

The UP Population Institute reported that 7.5% or 1.5 million youth tried ending their lives in 2021 and 6 out 10 of them did not reach out to anyone about it.

It said that seeking professional help among the youth was highly unpopular, with 1 out of 10 only doing so.

While there are guidance counselors in private and public schools that assist children, DepEd reported in 2021 that the ratio of counselors to students is one to 14,000 as there are only 2,093 guidance counselors despite having over 28 million students in the basic education sector.

“Ang kakulangan po ng mga guidance counselors in schools is hampering the mental health services we could have been offering to our students. The difficulty of seeking professional help should be addressed as soon as possible. Kailangan po nating gawin na mas accessible ang mental health consultations and interventions para sa ating kabataan,” Villar said.