Filipino-led forum in Toronto tackles mental health, body image

Fil-Canadian personalities urge more conversations to break the stigma on mental health.

ABS-CBN News

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dNMRfRRtbqw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>The Filipino group Kalamansi Collective recently led a panel discussion in Toronto on mental health and body image.Its founder Kris Pangilinan said the issue of mental health is often not discussed within Filipino families.&quot;You&#x27;ll have your parents say, &#x27;Oh, you&#x27;ve gotten fat,&#x27; or &#x27;When are you getting married&#x27;?&quot; he said. &quot;Those conversations affect a person’s mental health. We&#x27;re having a conversation on how we address these with our family members.&quot;Filipino-Canadian personalities shared their stories and highlighted how older generations’ perceptions of body image impact the mental well-being of the young.They stressed the need for more conversations to break this stigma.&quot;One of the hardest things in our culture [is] when you hear comments here and there from our elders about our appearances,&quot; said Amira de Vera of Project Four Public Relations. &quot;It&#x27;s good to speak up for yourself even though it is hard.&quot;Members of the panel included Canada’s minister of small business, Rechie Valdez.&quot;I hope people watch and share the things that we were able to talk about so that we can finally move on from our traumas,&quot; she said, &quot;and get to a place where we can stop trampling on each other.&quot;Valdez added: &quot;When one of us rises, we all rise.&quot;Attendees expressed a renewed motivation to initiate dialogues with older generations while striving to understand their perspectives.&quot;We need to talk about things, everything that is taboo, everything that’s been hidden in our culture to start to disrupt the norms that we’ve been living with,&quot; said Dee of Rise Tribe. &quot;If we can’t change the previous generations, then we can start the change with us.&quot;Kalamansi Collective vowed to continue these conversations to create a more supportive community where Filipinos feel safe discussing difficult topics like mental health.

Fil-Canadian personalities urge more conversations to break the stigma on mental health.

Filipino-led forum in Toronto tackles mental health, body image | ABS-CBN

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Filipino-led forum in Toronto tackles mental health, body image

Filipino-led forum in Toronto tackles mental health, body image

ABS-CBN News,

Christine Santos | TFC News Toronto

Published Jun 30, 2024 09:37 PM PHT

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Canada

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