PUP Health Fest 2017, a social marketing which is being organized by students from the PUP College of Communication-Department of Communication Research, is advocating a campaign that centers primarily on mental health. The campaign is entitled as OplanEunoia: Rising Above the Stigma on Mental Health through Arts. Arts as means of advocacy fall relevantly to the celebration of National Arts Month and thus chosen as the main medium of promotion for fighting against the mental health stigma, mainly in the PUP Community as its target audience.
OplanEunoia is inspired by the Mental Health Act of 2016 and also by the members of this movement that are suicide survivors and are also living with mental health problems. The campaign aims to reach out to the PUP community in order to input awareness and knowledge about mental health— most importantly on breaking the stereotypes on mental illnesses and suicide, prioritizing self-care, and creating a stigma-free campus.
As part of the campaign’s objectives, OplanEunoia set a three-day scale of events in which it comprises of mental health related activities namely: Arts Festival on February 28, where GUHIT Pinas, Mirrored Trees, and PUP University Center for Culture and the Arts-Music Section artists will showcase their creativity to design a stigma-free community through various forms of arts;Mental Health Awareness Seminar on March 2 with guests speakers from The Medical City’s Psychiatry Department, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Support Philippines, Anxiety and Depression Support Philippines, Healthy Mind Manila, PUP Psychology Department, and the PUP Guidance Counseling Office; and lastly, the finale of the campaign which is the Solidarity Concert: Musika Laban sa Stigma, wherein various OPM indie and underground bands and artists will showcase their talents on music to promote mental health awareness at the campus.
OplanEunoia will not be able to fully achieve the peak of its success without the extensive support of The Medical City’s Psychiatry Department, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Support Philippines, Anxiety and Depression Support Philippines, PUP University Center for Culture and the Arts, PUP Psychology Department, PUP Guidance Counseling Office, Van Gogh is Bipolar, Hataw PUP, Writer’s Block, We Are The Underdogs Productions, Sindikato Productions, GUHIT Pinas, Manila X Inc., Nouveau Sounds Production, Vitan Audio and Lightings System, Dunkin Donuts, BYS Cosmetics Philippines, Otsuka, Pharmalink, Multicare, and Astrazeneca to fight against the mental health stigma—primarily in the PUP community and later on in many more corners of the country, if founded by more support.
