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Ex-'PBB' housemate Wakim opens up about mental illness

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA – Former “Pinoy Big Brother Otso” housemate Wakim Regalado openly talked about his mental health with the aim of changing other people’s perception about those with the same condition.</p><p>In an interview with Boy Abunda, Regalado said he used to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when he was a child.</p><p>“My parents had me checked. I was diagnosed at age six and my parents made it a point na sasabihin kaagad sa akin na parang your superior IQ gives you the potential to do really well academically but your ADHD is a hindrance to that. Because people with ADHD tend to find it harder in school,” he said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fx6NMoDtEJI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Aside from having ADHD, Regalado said he was also diagnosed to have an anxiety disorder, from which he is still coping until today.</p><p>“It started off when I was about to go on an exchange program in South Korea. I am very religious. I grew up [going to] a Catholic Opus Dei school. I would sometimes stay up at night, not able to sleep when I was that little all the way up to when I was 14. I would think of existential things parang afterlife,” he said.</p><p>“I saw a specialist din. I was diagnosed with anxiety and I ended up taking medication for it. For today, I am coping. I am still on medication but it’s a lot better,” he added.</p><p>By openly talking about his condition, Regalado said it is his ultimate goal to break the stigma relating to it.</p><p>“I want to show the people that mental health illnesses can, just as much as anyone else, be functional members of the society and can achieve big things,” he said.</p>

<p>Former “Pinoy Big Brother Otso” housemate Wakim Regalado openly talked about his mental illness with the aim of changing other people’s perception about those with the same condition as his.</p>

Former “Pinoy Big Brother Otso” housemate Wakim Regalado openly talked about his mental illness with the aim of changing other people’s perception about those with the same condition as his.