MANILA: Since winning the Binibining Pilipinas crown last year, Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa has been focusing on mental health awareness in her bid to do away with the stigma and prejudice surrounding the different types of mental illness.
Kylie was quoted as saying by News To Go that her advocacy is close to her heart because aside from having family members with mental illnesses she has also experienced it firsthand.
Before she became a model and started joining local pageants, the Baguio City beauty had a bout of depression for more than half a year, reported GMA News.
“It’s close to my heart. I have a lot of family members going through some mental health issues, like depression, bipolar disorder. I’ve been through it myself,” she reportedly said.
Kylie added: “I want to bring the message out there because there is a stigma towards depression and mental illness. It’s not given a lot of focus because it’s not a sickness that is very tangible. It’s mental. There’s a stigma surrounding it, and I’m out here to say that it’s not okay.”
Aside from awareness, she reportedly said it is also important to understand that mental illness is a different journey for every single person who has it.
“’Yung unang step to be diagnosed is to be aware of it. Once you’re aware of it, you take the necessary steps to cure yourself. I went through it naturally. I didn’t know what I was going through until I was brought to a psychiatrist. It’s a very difficult situation and I do think it’s a big problem of the youth today,” Kylie was quoted as saying by GMA News.
The beauty queen added: “[Natural healing] is more safe, but I’m not against taking it the Western way, or the medical way. It could be an option. It’s different for every person. There are different ways to handle it. There’s the natural way where you can do it by really changing your lifestyle. Then there’s medicine, which can help you faster.”
After winning the Miss International crown last month, Kylie has returned to the Philippines to fulfill her duties as a beauty queen. “I would also like to focus on cultural diversity and international understanding. I have some projects planned for the future,” she reportedly said.
The beauty queen from Baguio City is the sixth Filipina to win the crown, following in the footsteps of Miss International 1964 Gemma Cruz, Miss International 1970 Aurora Pijuan, Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez, Miss International 2005 Precious Lara Quigaman, and Miss International 2013 Bea Santiago, said the news portal.
Kylie is the newest victor from this year’s line-up of Binibining Pilipinas beauty queens, following Nicole Cordoves, who was named first runner-up at the Miss Grand International 2016 three days before her win.
