Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of suicide and suicidal ideation.
GEN Z Filipinos are at a higher risk of developing mental health conditions than the average Filipino, with 73% of Gen Z Filipinos admitting to mental struggles. Furthermore, suicide attempts among Filipino youth increased to 7.5% in 2021, affecting nearly 1.5 million people between the ages of 15 and 24.
In the Ateneo, the Ateneo Bulatao Center for Psychological Services and the Office of Guidance and Counseling (OGC) serve as the main sources of psychological support. While Bulatao extends its services to the broader public, the OGC primarily attends to the University’s students.
Despite these available resources, the question of whether the University’s mental health policies and services adequately address the psychological needs of its student body persists—an issue made more pressing by rising concerns about suicide.
Caring through crisis
According to OGC Director Gary Aguedo Faustino, RPsy when mental health concerns are left unaddressed, they may quickly escalate into a larger mental health crisis.
Although there have been no official records of suicide cases in the Ateneo recently, college students in general are vulnerable to suicidal ideation, as the stressful transition to adulthood can combine risk factors like trauma and depression with a lack of protective factors against suicidality, such as family support and spiritual well-being.
With this, Ateneo Bulatao Center Executive Director Arsenio S. Alianan Jr., PhD, RPsy notes that mental health requires an understanding of factors that are biological, psychological, and social.
Against this backdrop, the Ateneo recorded three suicides in a single semester in 2008. Notably, teaching assistant Jose Lorenzo Tan (BS ME ‘06) was found dead by suicide at the Philosophy Department on June 30, 2008.
Six years later, in 2014, the University mourned another loss when a 19-year-old Atenean died by suicide in their home in Quezon City.
In the aftermath of the 2008 incidents, Ateneo established the Crisis Intervention Team in AY 2009–2010 as a support system for students contemplating suicide. While there is no record of its current operations, the Ateneo’s mechanisms for intervening during suicide attempts have evolved since 2011.
At present, Faustino states that an alert protocol is in place to notify the Office of Health Services and the OGC as soon as campus security is informed of a potential attempt. If the person is uncooperative, security must physically prevent them. He also notes that campus security now has inflatable bags prepared in case such incidents arise.
Furthermore, he adds that hospitalization becomes necessary when a student requires psychiatric care and intervention, particularly in cases where the student becomes uncooperative and can no longer be safely de-escalated through campus-based measures.
However, according to Faustino, these protocols were not formally documented until AY 2016–2017, when the Ateneo began writing its mental health policies ahead of the Mental Health Act. While he did not elaborate on these policies, the University issued a policy statement in November 2021 recognizing mental health as a dimension of well-being, with suicide intervention efforts shifting from crisis response to “preventive” measures.
Pressure and prevention
In line with the OGC’s preventive approach, Faustino emphasizes the importance of early identification and response to suicidal ideation. He explains that while thoughts about death are common, serious concerns arise when thoughts become deliberate and concrete.
To prevent suicide, Faustino asserts that the best way is through psychosocial support, which allows individuals to address issues before they worsen.
Ariana*, an undergraduate student and Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions (InTACT) Facilitator, takes advantage of the free counseling provided by OGC, having first availed of it last March before becoming a regular visitor in August. She credits this to a positive experience with the service, despite switching counselors at the beginning.
“There have been a lot of experiences that have heightened my anxiety, […] I couldn’t really regulate it on my own anymore. […] Because [the counseling] was in the University, it was easier to reach,” she explains.
Apart from counseling, OGC offers psychosocial initiatives such as Paws and Recharge, a form of Animal-Assisted Therapy, and art workshops to improve anxiety and depression.
To strengthen preventive measures, Faustino deems it necessary to strengthen coordination between different University units, as he believes mental health issues begin during formative years.
Meanwhile, Sanggunian Commission on Mental Health (CMH) Co-Commissioner Leo Gregorio comments that the University administration can improve its mental health response by heeding its student population. He emphasizes that institutional support during times of mental health difficulty could contribute to a more “mentally stable” Ateneo.
Gregorio expresses, however, that there is a lack of familiarity with their commission, impeding their responsiveness to the student body. To better reach the student body, Faustino reassures that the OGC is working with the Mental Health Coalition, consisting of CMH, Ateneo PEERS, and Ateneo Psyche.
Furthermore, the CMH aims to prepare campaigns that destigmatize mental health, specifically by relaunching Humans of Ateneo in short-form video format.
Cultivating a safe community
Despite issues with reach, Gregorio believes that the student community is open to discussions on mental health, claiming that students “know what to do” and when to speak up when helping a friend. Faustino similarly notes that faculty and students have come forward, raising concerns for their students, fellow classmates, or friends.
To further raise awareness, Alianan shares that the administration hosts talks or training on mental health for curious faculty, with the last one being about neurodiversity. Notably, InTACT also contains a module on mental health.
Complementing these institutional measures, Gregorio shares that the CMH trains first responders to assist those who reach out and, when needed, refers students to other mental health providers.
Still, Ariana observes that some students treat mental health as a trivial matter, recalling some freshmen in her InTACT class joking about suicide. To Ariana, students’ level of awareness is generally insufficient, believing that Ateneans are too confined within their own spaces.
This possible disconnect between institutional progress and student perception underscores the enduring complexity of mental health in the University. While crisis protocols have improved, they are only one part of the shift toward suicide prevention and intervention.
Ultimately, Alianan points out that students and community members play a large part in cultivating safe spaces for mental health. “Reaching out, asking, showing that you care, asking about them. […] It’s everyone in our community doing our little shares. That’s the best way that we can prevent suicide,” he stresses.
As such, community awareness of mental health-related measures and activities is vital in preventing suicide. While fostering a mentally healthy campus entails administrative proactivity, an earnest culture of mental health care is created and sustained by both personal and communal action.
*Editor’s Note: The name of the interviewee has been changed to protect their identity and privacy.
