NCMH E-Consultation Experience
Mental health used to be something largely ignored. Most believe that mental problems are easily set aside by positive thinking and other similar things. Thankfully, as the world progresses people are starting to understand that we must take care of our mental health as much as we pay attention to our physical and emotional health.
But a problem still remains
Just like most healthcare, professional help for mental health is expensive. Just the seeing the price of initial consultation, which ranged from P400 upwards, a normal Filipino would probably decide that it is out of their budget. And so, their mental health continues to deteriorate.
Even if one somehow managed to get the money needed for the consultation, the following expenses will surely test one's commitment to getting better.
It is understandable then why many people especially the oder generation still believe that psych services are just a scam or a waste of money.
This causes the younger generation to seek out help without their parents' knowledge or support. As I said, with the prices as high as they are right now, it is no wonder why people would rather self-diagnose instead of seeking professional help.
NCMH offers free consultation
As the world learns how to fight against the stugma surrounding mental illnesses and mental health, many free consultations are popping up to offer help to those who need it but struggle finncially. One such service comes from the National Center for Mental Health which offers free consultations, and online consultations with their dedicated pyschiatrists.
I could write how I got my free consultation in another article if someone needs it. But for now, I want to share just my experience.
NCMH Free Consultation
This is the confirmation I received from them. I was quite surprised since it was only after a few hours of when I registered and immediately, I already had a schedule. Contrary to what I have read online so I was unprepared for it.
It actually coincided with my class where we had to take a midterm examination. So I tried to re-schedule but received no confirmation. It made me change tactics where I instead informed the professor about what is happening. Good thing that the professor understood so our group was not called first.
After I privately messaged the rofessor about my consultation, I attended the online consultation with the assigned doctor which I will not name due to privacy concerns.
The doctor started the session by apologizing that the consultation will probably only take 10 minutes due to the large volume of patients. It is understandable since it is a free service so many people are using it.
I was asked about the symptoms I was experiencing, as well as medical and family history. I was also asked to share when the symptoms started. I tried to keep it concise due to the time limit and I wanted to get back to the class as soon as possible.
Afterwards, I was given my initial diagnosis and was told that I was symptomatic with my diagnosis. I was prescribed with something to help with my symptoms as per my request. I was also told to go back for a follow up appointment after 2 weeks.
At the end, I mentioned that I am also about to undergo a psychotherapy in a private clinic and I was advised to take it easy. I was told that it might be too much for me to start a medication while undergoing talk therapy since usually the way it is done is by first taking medicine and once majority of the symptoms subside, that will be the time for talk therapy to enter.
I plan to attend a psychotherapy session though to bring this up with the assigned psychologist to me. I want to hear a second opinion as well about my diagnosis since I am not top confident about a diagnosis done in such a short amount of time.
My thoughts
It was an easy and fast procedure. It was a smooth process from registration to the prescription which is nice because some reviews show different stories. Maybe I got lucky.
Anyway, I plan on buying the prescribed drugs. I am just not sure yet if I will use Grab Pabili service for it or if I would just go out to buy them myself.
I am also searching about the possible side effects so I can prepare for them. I wil take this medication as I wait for the email of the private clinic I went to last Friday about the treatment plan they want me to undergo to. There I will discuss what happened and see where to go from there.
I honestly would like to continue availing the services of the private clinic as I can choose which professional was assigned to me. It means that I can have one all throughout the session so I can establish rapport with them. Unlike with the NCMH free consultation, the doctors are random so the next one might not be the one assigned to me right now.
It is a daunting thought as I have read some not-so-nice reviews about the service that others experienced.
Anyway, I attended the free consultatipn since I know they will give prescription and I needed it to help with my symptoms as it is affecting my academic performance already. I am glad that I was able to get what I wanted from the consultation.
Closing words
I am still not ready to share the diagnosis I received. I will robably wait for a few more weeks and a second diagnosis before I start sharing. Although the diagnosis I got is the one that seems like the condition I am feeling when I searched for its symptoms. However, as I said I want to wait for more consultations because there might be changes in the diagnosis.
NCMH's free online consultation is an affordable way to get help if you ned it and has no allocated budget for it. However, I have a feeling that it is better to seek private or paid professionals if you are looking to have long term treatment.
This is just my personal opinion, though. Plus there are other institutions which offer free consultations such as PGH. If you do not know where to start, I suggest checking the subreddit r/MentalHealthPH to read about the experiences of other Filipinos as well as ask questions.
Hopefully, this article helped you out in finally taking the first step to taking care of your mental health.
Thank you for reading this article!
If you want to read some more articles of mine, I have monthly summaries here:
December 2021 Articles Summary
November 2021 Articles Summary
I'm praying for your fast recovery. Back then, this is what I needed but now, I can handle any emotional breakdowns that I can encounter. I think I'm close to getting numb from negatives and just focus myself to the positive side.